Deposit Forfeited for 493 Candidates in Recent House of Representatives Election Across Seven Districts

A total of 493 candidates in the House of Representatives election held on Falgun 21 have forfeited their security deposits across seven districts of the country.

 Thakur Prasad Bhattarai, Election Officer at the District Election Office, informed that the deposits of 226 candidates from 10 constituencies in Kathmandu were forfeited.

The deposits were forfeited for candidates from CPN (UML), Communist Party of Nepal, Rastriya Janamorcha, Ujyalo Nepal Party, Shram Sanskriti Party, and independent candidates.

In Kathmandu Constituency 1, 26 candidates including Mohan Raj Regmi of CPN (UML) forfeited their deposits; in Constituency 2, 25 candidates including Rammani Phuyal; in Constituency 3, 19 candidates including CPN (UML) candidate Rameshwar Phuyal; and in Constituency 4, 25 candidates forfeited their deposits.

Similarly, in Kathmandu Constituency 5, deposits of 22 candidates including CPN (UML) candidate Ishwar Pokhrel were forfeited. Deposits were forfeited for 17 candidates in Constituency 6, 26 in Constituency 7, 21 in Constituency 8, 22 in Constituency 9, and 23 in Constituency 10. These candidates for the House of Representatives had submitted a deposit of Rs 10,000 to the election office.

As per Section 71 (1) of the House of Representatives Election Act, 2074, the deposit amount is forfeited if a candidate fails to secure 10 percent of the total valid votes.

Furthermore, our local representative from Pokhara reported, citing the District Election Office, that deposits were forfeited for 14 candidates in Kaski-1, 14 in Kaski-2, and 12 in Kaski-3.

According to our RSS correspondent in Dang, the deposits of 51 candidates were forfeited in Dang. Gehendra Kanwar, Information Officer at the Provincial Election Office, stated that in Dang Constituency No. 1, deposits of 12 candidates were forfeited, including Metmani Chaudhary of the Communist Party of Nepal, Revatiraman Sharma of CPN (UML), and independent candidate Kul Prasad KC.

Revatiraman Sharma, who was a candidate from CPN (UML) in Dang 1, and former Chief Minister of Lumbini Province Kul Prasad KC, along with 12 others in the same constituency, had their deposits forfeited.

Likewise, deposits were forfeited for 20 candidates in Constituency No. 2.

In Ilam, deposits of 18 candidates were forfeited. In Ilam, which has two constituencies, eight out of 13 candidates in Constituency No. 1 and 10 candidates, including one independent, out of 14 candidates in Constituency No. 2 forfeited their deposits under the First-Past-The-Post system.

Those whose deposits were forfeited include Jwala Nepal of Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Tulshikesari Prajapati of Nepal Workers' and Peasants' Party, Buddhalal Meche of Mongol National Organisation, Dambarsingh Limbu of Nepal Janamukti Party, Ramprasad Limbu of Federal Democratic National Forum, Nardamani Sangpang of Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Haribahadur Gurung of Ujyalo Nepal Party, and Lilabahadur Sunuwar of Janata Samajbadi Party. Deposits of 10 candidates were forfeited in Constituency No. 2.

Additionally, according to the news transmitted by our Bhojpur correspondent, deposits of seven candidates were forfeited. In Baglung Constituency Number 1, deposits of eight candidates, including Rastriya Janamorcha, were forfeited.

Assistant Election Officer Purna Prasad Sharma informed that even Chitra Bahadur KC, the central chairman of Rastriya Janamorcha and former Deputy Prime Minister, could not save his deposit. 

According to our RSS representative in Rupandehi, deposits of 143 candidates were forfeited, while our local correspondent in Lalitpur reported that deposits of 63 candidates were forfeited.

Chief Election Officer of Lalitpur, Punaram Khanal, informed that deposits were forfeited for 40 candidates from political parties and 23 independent candidates in the district.