Hyderabad, April 18 : A total of 42 nominations were filed on the first day in Telangana for next month's Lok Sabha elections.

The election process was set in motion on Thursday with the Election Commission of India issuing notification for the polling in all 17 Lok Sabha constituencies scheduled to be held on May 13.

As the day was considered auspicious, some prominent candidates filed their nominations on the very first day. The highest number of nominations (eight) were received in Malkajgiri constituency.

However, no nominations were filed on the first day in Hyderabad and Secunderabad constituencies.

BJP national Vice President D.K. Aruna filed the nomination from Mahabubnagar while former minister Eatala Rajender, also of the BJP, filed the nomination from Malkajgiri. Another BJP leader and former MLA M. Raghunandan Rao filed his papers for the Medak constituency. Congress party's Neelam Madhu also filed his nomination for the same seat.

In Nagarkurnool, senior Congress leader Mallu Ravi, the brother of Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, submitted his papers to the returning officer. BJP's S. Saidi Reddy filed his nomination from Nalgonda while in Zahirabad Suresh Kumar Shetkar filed the papers on the very first day.

No nomination was filed in the Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly segment, where the by-election is scheduled on the same day.

April 25 is the last date for filing of nominations. The scrutiny of nominations will be taken up on April 26 while the last date for withdrawal of candidatures is April 29.

/IANS