Mysuru: With the deadline for withdrawal of nominations in respect of 14 Lok Sabha seats in the Southern part of the State ending at 3 pm this afternoon, two candidates who had filed their nomination papers from Mysuru-Kodagu LS seat, withdrew their nomination by 12.30 pm here at the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, who is also the District Returning Officer.

P.S. Yedurappa of Periyapatna and M. Khalil of Mysuru, who had filed their nomination as independent candidates were the ones who withdrew from the contest.

The Mysuru-Kodagu LS seat saw 30 candidates file a total of 50 set of nomination papers, before the deadline on Mar. 26.

The scrutiny of nomination papers was taken up on Mar. 27, when the nomination papers of five independent candidates were rejected on various grounds. This left 25 candidates in the fray and it remains to be seen whether more number of independents will withdraw from the contest by 3 pm deadline.

Mysuru-Kodagu and 13 other LS seats in the Southern half of the State will go to the polls on Apr. 18 in the first phase of polling, while 14 other LS seats will go to the polls on Apr. 23. The counting of all the 543 Lok Sabha seats will take place on May 23.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India will allot the symbols to all the independent candidates who remain in the fray after the 3 pm deadline today.

The battle is between renominated sitting MP Pratap Simha and JD(S)-Congress Coalition candidate C.H. Vijayshankar of the Congress. The BSP has nominated Dr. B. Chandra from the seat.