Six Candidates Lose Deposits in Jumla House of Representatives Election

Jumla. Six candidates have forfeited their deposits in the House of Representatives election held in Jumla on Thursday. A total of 10 candidates, including one independent and candidates from nine different political parties, were in the electoral race.

Despite the wave of support for the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) across the country, Binita Katyayat in Jumla secured only 421 votes, leading to the forfeiture of her deposit for failing to secure 10 percent of the valid votes cast.

Similarly, party candidates including Manrishi Dhital of Pragatisheel Loktantrik Party (112 votes), Birshbahadur Rawat of Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party (400 votes), Birkh Shahi of Nepal Communist Party (Maoist Centre) (71 votes), and Ranil Bikram Shahi of Nepal Janata Party (43 votes) could not save their deposits. Independent candidate Bhakta Bahadur Rawal also had his deposit forfeited.

The candidates lost the security deposit they submitted to the election office as per the law. Dipendra Kandel, Election Officer at the District Election Office, Jumla, stated that the legal provision mandates the forfeiture of the deposit if 10 percent of the valid votes cast are not secured.

Gyanendra Shahi of RPP was elected from Jumla, securing 14,816 votes. The second position was taken by the CPN candidate Naresh Bhandari with 11,635 votes. Furthermore, Shantilal Mahat of CPN (UML) secured 4,518 votes, and Deep Bahadur Shahi of Nepali Congress secured 7,143 votes, according to the District Election Office, Jumla. The Chief Returning Officer's office reported that 1,724 votes out of the total cast were declared invalid.

Out of the total voters in the district, approximately 40,897, or 57 percent, cast their votes in the first-past-the-post category. For the proportional representation category, 41,631 votes, or 58.03 percent, were cast. The District Election Office, Jumla, stated that the total number of voters in the district is 71,739.

Congress Emerges as the Leading Party in Karnali

With the final vote count announced for 12 constituencies across 10 districts in Karnali Province, Congress has emerged as the leading party in Karnali, winning five constituencies. According to the vote count published by the Election Commission, Khadga Bahadur Buda from Jajarkot, Jayapati Rokaya from Humla, Basana Thapa from Dailekh-1, Khadak Shahi from Mugu, and Bishnu Bahadur Khadka from Surkhet-1 were elected from the Congress party.

CPN candidates Gopal Sharma from Rukum West, Ramesh Kumar Malla from Salyan, Dhan Bahadur Buda from Dolpa, and Mahendra Bahadur Shahi from Kalikot were victorious.

The details published by the central office of the Election Commission indicate that Gyan Bahadur Shahi from RPP won in Jumla, Laxmi Prasad Pokharel from UML won in Dailekh-2, and Ramesh Kumar Sapkot from RSP won in Surkhet-2. The Election Commission stated that in Karnali, CPN won four constituencies, while RSP, UML, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party each won one constituency.