Of the 2,423 candidates who contested the MCD elections, 1,783 - or roughly three-fourth - lost their security deposits as they could not secure 16.6 per cent of the total votes polled.
This time, not just independents, but candidates of big parties such as the Congress, BJP and BSP also lost their deposits as well.
For instance, of the 271 Congress candidates who contested the elections, 26 lost their deposits. The BJP had fielded 272 candidates, of which 18 candidates lost their security money.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which for the first time had fielded candidates on all the 272 wards, also lost security deposits on 203 seats.
"We generally expect that independent candidates and candidates of smaller parties will secure few votes. But this time was different. Several candidates of bigger parties such as Congress and BJP too were not able to secure even 16.6 per cent of the total votes polled," said a senior Delhi State Election Commission.
The Leftists too had a poor showing. All candidates of the Forward Bloc and the Communist Party of India lost their security deposits. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) had fielded eight candidates. Only one of the eight could save his deposit money. Interestingly, in Pratap Nagar where 23 candidates contested, 22 lost their security deposits. Congress candidate Ashok Kumar, who contested from this ward, lost his security deposit as he got only 3,404 votes of the 32,925 total votes polled.
{{/usCountry}}The Leftists too had a poor showing. All candidates of the Forward Bloc and the Communist Party of India lost their security deposits. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) had fielded eight candidates. Only one of the eight could save his deposit money. Interestingly, in Pratap Nagar where 23 candidates contested, 22 lost their security deposits. Congress candidate Ashok Kumar, who contested from this ward, lost his security deposit as he got only 3,404 votes of the 32,925 total votes polled.
{{/usCountry}}In Peeragarhi, of the eight candidates who contested, the security deposit of six have been forfeited. These candidates include the BSP and Congress candidates.
In Sultanpuri (south), BJP candidate Santosh Gupta managed to get only 764 votes of the 20,000 votes polled.
A total of 1,120 independent candidates also lost their security deposits.