UP polls: 85 per cent candidates lose deposits in Prayagraj region - Hindustan Times
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UP polls: 85 per cent candidates lose deposits in Prayagraj region

By, Prayagraj
Mar 11, 2022 08:43 PM IST

A candidate needs to secure at least one-sixth (16.67%) of the votes polled in the constituency to get back the deposit. The candidates who fail to get the required number of votes lose or forfeit their deposits.

A whopping 85% of the candidates (255 out of 300) in the Prayagraj region’s 22 assembly constituencies have lost their deposits this time, according to the Uttar Pradesh poll results declared by the Election Commission of India (ECI). These 22 assembly seats are in the three districts of Prayagraj, Pratapgarh and Kaushambi.

Most seats in Prayagraj, Kaushambi and Pratapgarh districts this time witnessed straight fights. (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE )
Most seats in Prayagraj, Kaushambi and Pratapgarh districts this time witnessed straight fights. (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE )

The Representation of the People Act, 1951, requires every candidate to deposit a certain amount with the Election Commission to contest polls. A general category candidate needs to deposit 10,000 while a candidate belonging to the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe needs to deposit only half that amount. A candidate needs to secure at least one-sixth (16.67%) of the votes polled in the constituency to get back the deposit. The candidates who fail to get the required number of votes lose or forfeit their deposits.

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“Most seats in Prayagraj, Kaushambi and Pratapgarh districts this time witnessed straight fights. And 85% of the total candidates losing their deposits shows that voters were not, too, divided as to whom they wanted to support. No wonder, almost all seats of Prayagraj, Pratapgarh and Kaushambi witnessed a two-cornered contest this time,” said poll analyst MP Dube.

A scrutiny of assembly poll results shows 145 out of the 169 candidates in Prayagraj district lost their deposits. Only the winner and runner-up on any seat could get more votes than the norm to save their deposit. Those who lost their deposit included Congress candidate Anugrah Narain Singh, a former MLA contesting his 10th assembly poll. He was in the fray in Allahabad North where a total of 1,73,838 votes were cast. To save the deposit, a total of 28,973 votes were needed to be polled but Anugrah Narayan Singh could get only 23,362 votes.

The situation was similar in Koraon assembly constituency where many veterans were in the fray. As many as 2,06,945 valid votes were cast there. A candidate needed at least 34,490 votes to save the security deposit.

Barring the winner, the BJP’s Raj Mani Kol and runner-up Ram Deo Nidar of the Samajwadi Party (SP), none of the other candidates could save the deposit in Koraon. Former MLAs Rajbali Jaisal of the Bahujan Samaj Party and Ram Kripal of the Congress were among those who lost the deposit in Koraon. The scene remained the same on all 12 assembly seats of Prayagraj district.

In Pratapgarh district, 75 out of the 90 candidates lost their deposits this time. None of the BSP candidates could save the deposit in the seven assembly constituencies of Pratapgarh district.

Except for the Rampur Khas seat, all Congress candidates forfeited their deposit. Those who lost their deposits included Muhammad Phaheem of the BSP, Yogesh Kumar of the Congress and five independents on the Kunda seat, Fulchandra of the BSP, Sunita of the Congress and Ajay Yadav of the Aam Aadmi Party on the Patti seat, Ajay Yadav of the BSP, Abdul Wahid of the Congress and Anil Kumar of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) on the Raniganj seat, besides Bankelal Patel of the BSP, Ajeet of AAP and Lalji of Janata Dal (United) on the Rampur Khas seat.

Thirty-five out of the total 41 candidates lost their deposits on three seats in Kaushambi district.

In Sirathu, 16 out of the 18 candidates lost their deposits, including the BSP’s Mundsab Ali, Congress’s Seema Devi, AAP’s Vishnu Kumar, AIMIM’s Sher Mohammad as well as all five independents.

Thirteen out of the 15 contestants on the Chail seat, too, lost their deposits. Those who failed to protect their deposits include the Congress’s Talat Azim, the BSP’s Atul Kumar Dwivedi and the AIMIM’s Mohibbul Haque.

In Manjhanpur, six of the eight candidates lost their deposits, including Arun Vidyarthi of the Congress, Neetu Kanojia of the BSP and three independents.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    K Sandeep Kumar is a Special Correspondent of Hindustan Times heading the Allahabad Bureau. He has spent over 16 years reporting extensively in Uttar Pradesh, especially Allahabad and Lucknow. He covers politics, science and technology, higher education, medical and health and defence matters. He also writes on development issues.

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