Rastriya Swatantra Party Dominates Proportional Vote in Bara, Most Candidates Lose Deposits

In Bara, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) secured 54 percent of the votes in the proportional representation category during the House of Representatives elections held on Thursday.

Out of 464,784 registered voters in Bara, 315,967 votes, or 67.88 percent, were cast in this House of Representatives election. Among these, the RSP alone garnered 170,000 votes in the proportional representation category.

Previously, among the major parties, CPN (UML) received only 26,443 votes, while Nepali Congress secured 39,000 votes, and JSP Nepal reached fourth place with 26,019 votes. CPN received around 4,000 votes.

Meanwhile, RSP candidates won all four direct election constituencies in Bara by significant margins. In the 2079 elections, Achyut Mainali, Swala Kumari Sah, and Kisan Shrestha were elected from Bara Constituencies 1, 3, and 4, respectively, while JSP Chairman Upendra Yadav was elected from Bara-2.

In this election, the deposits of 99 out of the 110 candidates contesting in the four direct constituencies of Bara were forfeited.

There is a legal provision for the forfeiture of a candidate's deposit if they fail to secure even 10 percent of the total valid votes.

Candidates from parties including UML, Congress, CPN, JSP Nepal, Janmat, Aam Janata Party, Pragatisheel Loktantrik, Shram Sanskriti, Ujyalo Nepal Party, Paribartan Nepal, among others, had their deposits forfeited. Candidates from the then major and Madhes-centric parties also saw their deposits forfeited.

According to data received from the District Election Office, 17 out of 20 candidates in Bara-1 had their deposits forfeited. In Bara-2, 26 out of 29 candidates could not save their deposits, while 22 out of 24 candidates in Bara-3 had their deposits forfeited. Similarly, District Election Officer Navin Chaudhary informed that the deposits of 34 out of the 37 candidates competing in Bara-4 were forfeited.