997 nominees lose deposit, poll panel collects Rs 85.90 lakh

Sameer Singh

Bathinda, March 16

The Election Commission (EC) has collected Rs 85.90 lakh after forfeiting security deposits (Rs 10,000 per candidate) of 997 candidates out of 1,304 nominees who contested the 2022 Assembly poll on 117 segments.

Prominent among those whose security desposit has been forfeited include a former Chief Minister and five former ministers. As many as 33 candidates of the Congress got their security deposits forfeited.

EC’s guideline

• A candidate contesting the Assembly poll has to deposit Rs10,000 as a security at the time of filing his nomination paper. The SC candidate needs to deposit Rs 5,000.
• Out of 997 candidates, as many as 276 nominees lost their security deposits (Rs 13.80 lakh) from 34 reserved constituencies, while the EC pocketed Rs 72,21,000 from the remaining 721 candidates.

As per the EC guidelines, a candidate contesting the Assembly poll has to deposit Rs 10,000 as a security at the time of filing his nomination paper. The SC candidate needs to deposit Rs 5,000.

Out of 997 candidates, as many as 276 nominees lost their security deposits (Rs 13.80 lakh) from 34 reserved constituencies, while the EC pocketed Rs 72,21,000 from the remaining 721 candidates.

Among all the segments, security deposits of 18 candidates (highest) have been forfeited in Patiala Rural. A total of 16 candidates (out of 19 and 18 nominees) lost their security deposits in Sahnewal and Payal, respectively.

In Bassi Pathana and Sunam, only winning candidates saved their security deposits. In Ludhiana South, 15 candidates out of 17, lost their security deposits. In Malout, as many as 13 nominees out of 15, lost their deposits.

In Bathinda Urban, former finance minister and Congress candidate Manpreet Singh Badal managed to save his security deposit from being forfeited by a thin margin of 2,360 votes.

Talking to The Tribune, Dr S Karuna Raju, Chief Electoral Officer, said, “As election expenditures are borne by the state assembly, the collections from security deposits directly get deposited in the respective district units of the Treasury Department.”