Increase in election forfeitures benefited 16.4 crores to government

Delhi: In the recent Lok Sabha election for 543 seats, 7,194 out of 8,360 candidates, or 86.1%, who failed to secure a seat lost their security deposits, amounting to a total of Rs 16.36 crore, according to data from the Election Commission (EC). These candidates did not receive even one-sixth of the total valid votes cast in their respective constituencies.

According to the Representation of the People Act, 1951, a candidate must deposit Rs 25,000 to the poll body to contest in general elections in India. The EC mandates this security deposit to deter non-serious candidates and ensure only committed individuals file nominations.

The security deposit was revised in 2009 to Rs 25,000 for candidates in unreserved seats and Rs 12,500 for candidates in reserved Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) seats, of which there are 84 and 47 respectively. In Assembly polls, the deposit is Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 for SC and ST seats.

If a candidate fails to secure at least one-sixth of the votes, the forfeited amount is reserved by the government treasury. This year, the number of forfeitures increased from 2019, with 6,923 or 86% of the 8,054 candidates losing their deposits, yielding Rs 15.87 crore to the government.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had the highest number of candidates forfeiting their deposits, with 476 or 97.5% of its candidates losing their deposits. This poor performance of the Mayawati-led party, which managed to win only one seat, resulted in BSP candidates forfeiting Rs 1.04 crore in deposits. The BSP had fielded 488 candidates across 26 states and Union Territories.