Bengaluru: Former India fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad yesterday emerged as the lone contender  in the race for the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Presidency after the names of two prominent aspirants, K.N. Shanthkumar and Senior Administrator Vinay Mrutyunjaya, were absent from the final list of validly nominated candidates released by the Electoral Officer.

The unexpected omissions dramatically reshaped the electoral landscape, coming on a day when Kalpana Venkatachar, the only other major contender, reportedly announcing her withdrawal from the race to the President’s post, stating she did not wish to contest against Prasad, whom she described as a stalwart.

The scrutiny of nominations, conducted under the supervision of Justice Subhash B. Adi as directed by the Karnataka High Court in Writ Petition No. 34890/2025, cleared multiple candidates across posts but did not provide any explanation for the absence of Shanthkumar — initially a Presidential aspirant and Mrutyunjaya, who was contesting for Secretary.

It remains unclear whether their nominations were rejected or withdrawn, and no official clarification was issued today.

Electoral Officer Dr. B. Basavaraju, IAS (Retd.), released the valid list after completing verification in the presence of candidates at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

For the post of Hon. Vice-President, five candidates have been approved: D. Vinod Shivappa, Santosh Menon, B. Sujith Somasundar, Kalpana Venkatachar and B.N. Madhukar.

The Hon. Secretary race features E.S. Jairam, Sujith Somasundar and Santosh Menon, while B.K. Ravi, A.V. Shashidhara and Avinash Vaidya will contest for Joint Secretary.

Five candidates have been validated for Treasurer: B.N. Madhukar, M.S. Vinay, B.N. Subramanya, A.V. Shashidhara and Kalpana Venkatachar.

Seven names have been cleared for Life Member (Managing Committee) positions: Kalpana Venkatachar, Sailesh N. Poll, V.M. Manjunath, Sanjai Ashok Anand Poll, B.S. Vagesh Prasad, K.S. Kedarnath and Avinash Vaidya.

The election process will proceed as per the revised schedule mandated by the High Court and the voting for other posts will be held on Dec. 7.