Bengaluru, April 20: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday released its third list of candidates for the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections 2018. The list included the names of candidates from 59 constituencies.

The party also announced the change of candidate from the reserved seat of Kolar Gold Fields, where it has now nominated S Ashwani. The third candidate list of BJP comes days after it released two seperate lists of 72 and 82 candidates each.

3rd List of Candidates Released by BJP For Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018:

The Congress has so far released the names of 218 candidates out of the 224 constituencies. The party is expected to name the remainder of its candidates by the end of the week.

The legislative polls in Karnataka is scheduled to be held in single phase on May 12. The results will be declared on May 15.

The first major opinion poll release earlier in the month gave the incumbent Congress the edge moving into the elections. The India Today survey said the party was poised to bag 90-110 seats, whereas, the BJP could trail second winning 72-86 seats. The JD(S) was predicted to emerged as the kingmaker, winning 40 seats in the 224-member assembly.

The JD(S), however, clarified that it would neither ink a post-poll pact with the "corrupt Congress" or the "communal BJP".

The election outcome in Karnataka holds key to the prospects of both the BJP and Congress moving into the 2019 general polls. While it is the only major state among the four held across the nation by the Congress, it also the only southern state where the BJP has significant amount of electoral presence.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 20, 2018 05:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).