Deposits of 6 candidates, including RSP candidate Binita Kathayat forfeited in Jumla

Kathmandu. The deposits of six out of 10 candidates contesting the election to the House of Representatives in Jumla have been forfeited.

They lost the deposit money kept at the election office as they could not get 10 percent of the votes cast in the election.

A total of 10 candidates including nine political parties and one independent are in the fray in the district. But more than half of the candidates failed to secure their deposits after receiving fewer votes.

Although the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is buzzing and influential across the country, its impact was not much in Jumla.

Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RSP) candidate Binita Kathayat garnered only 421 votes. His bail has also been forfeited as he could not get the required votes.

Similarly, Manrishi Dhital of Pragatisheel Loktantrik Party got only 112 votes. Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP)’s Birsha Bahadur Rawat secured 400 votes while CPN (Maoist Centre)’s Birkha Shahi got 71 votes.

Ranil Bikram Shahi of Nepal Janata Party got only 43 votes. All these candidates failed to get the required votes and their deposits were forfeited. Likewise, independent candidate Bhakta Bahadur Rawal has also lost his deposit after he got a minimum number of votes.

As per the law, if any candidate fails to secure at least 10 per cent of the votes cast, the deposit amount will be forfeited. According to District Election Office, Jumla’s election officer Dipendra Kandel, 6 candidates lost their bail due to the provision.

Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) candidate Gyanendra Shahi has been elected to the House of Representatives. He defeated his nearest rival Naresh Bhandari of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) by 3,241 votes.

According to Assistant Election Officer Hari Krishna Timilsina, Shahi garnered 14,816 votes to defeat Bhandari with 11,635 votes.

Around 57 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the district. According to the Election Office, 40,897 votes were cast in the first-past-the-post category. Similarly, 41,631 or 58.03 per cent votes were cast under the proportional representation category.

The total number of voters in the district is 71,739, according to the District Election Office, Jumla. Although the election was interesting, the results of the election show that the RPP has a strong hold in Jumla.