Bengaluru, March 30 (IANS) As many as 241 candidates are in fray for 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka for the first phase of polling on April 18 after the last date of withdrawals on Friday, said an official.

"With 33 withdrawals after scrutiny of 274 validly nominated candidates on Wednesday, the number of contestants in 14 parliamentary seats is 241," said an official of the state's chief electoral officer in a statement here.

Among the constituencies, Bangalore North has the highest number of 31 candidates, followed by 25 in Bangalore South and 22 each in Bangalore Central, Mandya and Mysore.

Least number of candidates is 6 in Hassan, followed by 10 in Chamarajnagar, 12 in Udupi-Chikkmagalur and 13 in Dakshina Kannada.

Maximum withdrawals was 6 in Kolar, followed by 4 each in Chitradurga, Mandya and Tumkur.

There were no withdrawals in Bangalore South and Dakshina Kannada, while it was 1 each in Bangalore North and Hassan and 2 each in Bangalore Central, Bangalore Rural, Chamarajnagar, Chikkaballapur and Udupi-Chikkamagalur.

There were 362 candidates, who filed nominations by the last date on March 26 for the first phase after notification on March 19.

Polling in the remaining 14 seats in the second phase is on April 23 and vote count for all the 28 seats is on May 23.