154 Candidates, Including Former Ministers, Forfeit Deposits in Sarlahi Federal Polls

Sarlahi. In the House of Representatives election, the deposits of 154 candidates, including former ministers, who contested from all four constituencies in Sarlahi have been forfeited. According to the Election Act, the deposit of a candidate who fails to secure 10 percent of the total valid votes is subject to forfeiture.

The Chief Election Officer, Pushparaj Thapaliya, informed that 154 candidates, including 68 independents, are likely to forfeit their deposits in the election held last Thursday. Among those forfeiting their deposits are former ministers and incumbent House of Representatives members.

In Constituency No. 1, the deposits of 28 candidates, including the incumbent MP, are set to be forfeited. The deposits of all candidates except Shambhulal Shrestha, who contested from the Nepali Congress, have been forfeited. To save their deposits in this constituency, candidates needed to secure at least 7,385 votes. However, only two candidates in this constituency managed to cross the 10 percent threshold.

The deposits of 28 candidates, including Janata Samajbadi Party candidate and incumbent House of Representatives member Ram Prakash Chaudhary, CPN candidate and former MP Pramod Sah, and CPN (UML) candidate Manojkumar Devkota, who is also the former Mayor of Ishwarpur Municipality, have been forfeited from this constituency.

Incumbent MP Chaudhary secured only 3,991 votes, former MP Sah secured 5,498 votes, and former Mayor Devkota secured only 6,101 votes. Out of a total of 130,871 votes, 60.53 percent, or 79,207 votes, were cast. Of these, 73,842 votes were deemed valid.

Similarly, in Constituency No. 2, the deposits of 29 candidates, including Rajendra Mahato, Chairman of Rastriya Mukti Party Nepal and former Deputy Prime Minister, have been forfeited. This includes 17 independent candidates. To save their deposits, candidates in this constituency needed to secure 7,239 votes, which is 10 percent of the 72,381 valid votes. According to the final vote count, Chairman Mahato of Rastriya Mukti Party secured only 5,992 votes.

He failed to secure even 10 percent of the total valid votes. In Sarlahi 2, the nearest competitor, Mahendra Rai Yadav, candidate of the CPN and former minister, succeeded in saving his deposit by securing 8,523 votes. In this constituency, out of a total of 125,311 votes, 62.08 percent, or 77,789 votes, were cast. Of these, 72,381 votes were valid and 5,008 votes were invalid.

In Sarlahi 3, only the deposit of the nearest competitor, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, candidate of the CPN and former Home Minister, was saved. Election Officer Navaraj Acharya informed that out of 34 candidates in this constituency, the deposits of 32 candidates are set to be forfeited. 32 candidates, including 19 independents, failed to secure 10 percent of the total valid votes.

Out of 134,412 registered voters in this constituency, 82,108 votes were cast. Of these, 77,838 votes were valid and 4,268 votes were invalid. To secure the deposit in this constituency, a minimum of 7,784 votes were required, whereas former Home Minister Shrestha secured 13,338 votes.

Here, the deposits of CPN-UML candidate and former Defense Minister and incumbent House of Representatives member Hari Prasad Upreti, Nepali Congress's Binod Kumar Khanal, and others have been forfeited.

Likewise, in Sarlahi 4, the deposits of all candidates except Nepali Congress President Gagan Kumar Thapa and CPN-UML's Amanishkumar Yadav have been forfeited. In this constituency where 38 candidates were in the fray, only Congress President Thapa and CPN-UML candidate Yadav managed to save their deposits. The deposit money was lost by 35 candidates, including 23 independents.

In this constituency, 35 candidates failed to secure the required 7,337 votes to save their deposits. In this constituency where Rastriya Swatantra Party candidate Amresh Kumar Singh won with 35,688 votes, out of 121,012 registered voters, 77,931 cast their votes. Of these, 73,362 votes were valid, while 4,569 votes were invalid.

Here, Congress candidate and nearest competitor President Thapa saved his deposit by securing 22,831 votes, and the third-placed UML's Yadav saved his deposit by securing 9,343 votes. Here, the deposits of CPN's Dr. Ranishray, former minister and Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal's Rameshwar Ray Yadav, among others, have been forfeited.

There is a legal provision that if a candidate secures less than 10 percent of the total valid votes cast in the direct election for the House of Representatives, their deposit, which was placed during the filing of candidacy, will be forfeited. The Election Commission has stated that the forfeited amount from the candidates will go to the state treasury.

This time, while the elected candidates secured massive mandates in all four constituencies of the district, the number of candidates losing their deposits has sharply increased.