As many as 34 candidates, including 25 Independents, have thrown themselves into the fray for the Lok Sabha polls in Gautam Buddh Nagar, officials said on Thursday, as curtains drew on the nomination process for the second phase of general elections on April 26. The number of nominations filed this time has gone up from 2019, when a total of 21 candidates had applied but ultimately 13 were able to contest as eight others got rejected.
Almost half of the nominations (16) were made on Thursday — the last day — at the Collectorate in Surajpur, the local election office said. “The date for scrutiny of nominations has been fixed for Friday (April 5) and the last date for withdrawal of nominations has been fixed for Monday (April 8). The second phase of voting will be completed on April 26 and counting of votes will be done on June 4. The election process will be completed by June 6,” District Election Officer Manish Kumar Verma said.
Of the total 34 nominations received, 25 are fighting as Independent candidates while the rest are backed by political parties.
