Hyderabad, April 29 : A total of 525 candidates remained in the fray for 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana as the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended Monday.

According to the Election Commission, 100 candidates withdrew their nominations till 3 p.m. when the deadline ended.

Nominations of 625 candidates were filed valid during the scrutiny of nomination on April 26.

Secunderabad has a maximum number of candidates at 45. A total of 44 candidates are in the fray in Medak, followed by 43 in Chevella and 42 each in Peddapalle (SC) and Warangal (SC) constituencies.

However, there are only 12 candidates in the Adilabad (ST) constituency.

A three-cornered contest among the Congress, the BRS, and the BJP is likely in the elections scheduled to be held on May 13.

A little over 3.30 crore voters, more than half of them women, are eligible to cast their votes in these elections.

Union Minister and state BJP President G. Kishan Reddy is seeking re-election from Secunderabad and BJP national General Secretary Bandi Sanjay Kumar is contesting again from Karimnagar.

AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi is seeking re-election for a fifth consecutive term from Hyderabad.

In the 2019 elections, the BRS had won nine seats while the BJP had bagged four seats. The Congress could win three seats while AIMIM had retained its lone seat.

Fresh from its victory in the Assembly elections held in November 2023, the Congress is looking to improve its performance this time. The party has set a target of 12 seats and it is hoping to capitalise on the defections of several leaders from BRS to the Congress camp during the last couple of months. The BJP is also confident of improved performance following the good show in the Assembly elections and is looking to increase its tally to double digits.

Jolted by the exodus of several leaders including five sitting MPs, MLAs, and MLCs, the BRS will be facing an acid test in retaining the seats it won in 2019.

/IANS