Losing deposit no bar for LS, assembly bids in Bihar

More than 80 per cent of candidates in Bihar have forfeited their security deposits in the last two parliamentary elections in the country as well as the assembly polls in the state, as per information available with the Election Commission of India (ECI).

“The increase in the number of candidates losing their deposits is a pointer to the fact that the Election Commission of India (ECI)’s decision to increase the nomination fee and raise the expenditure bar of candidates to weed away non-serious candidates has had little impact on them,” said Gyanendra Yadav, an associate professor of sociology at the College of Commerce, Arts and Science in Patna.

A candidate who fails to secure 1/6th of the total eligible votes polled forfeits the deposit submitted at the time of filing his/her nomination papers to the returning officer.

The security deposit for a Lok Sabha election candidate is currently ₹25,000 for general category candidates and ₹12,500 for SC/STs.

In assembly elections, the security deposit is ₹10,000 for general candidates and ₹5,000 for reserved category candidates.

Bihar sends 40 MPs to the Lok Sabha and has 243 seats in its legislative assembly.

In the 2014 parliamentary polls, there were a total of 607 candidates in Bihar, of which 512 (84.35%) forfeited their deposits. In 2019, 546 (87.22%) of the total 626 candidates lost their deposits, as per the ECI data.

Coming to assembly polls, 2,935 candidates (85.07%) of the total 3,450 lost their deposits in 2015. In 2020, the figure increased to 3,205 (85.86%) of the total 3,733 candidates.

Women equally undeterred

Women’s interest in fighting polls has also grown over the years. And so has the number of them losing their deposits.

Of the 47 women who contested the 2014 parliamentary polls from Bihar, 36 (76.60%) had forfeited their deposits. In 2019, this figure rose by 6.26%, as 58 (82.86%) of the total 70 women candidates lost their deposits, as per data available with ECI.

Similarly, 221 (80.95%) of the 273 contesting female candidates forfeited their deposits in the Bihar legislative assembly elections in 2015. This rose to 81.62%, as 302 of the 370 contesting female candidates lost their deposit in 2020.

“Sometimes established parties put up non-serious or dummy candidates just to use them as ‘vote katuwas’ (to split votes) because of their caste or local influence. Such candidates join the fray for pecuniary gains and either withdraw or remain inert during campaigning because their objective is different and not to win an election,” said Yadav.

“Some non-serious candidates throw their hat in the political ring to convert their black money into white or even to grab media attention to gain popularity and brighten their future,” said Yadav, adding that the EC move to increase the cap on poll expenditure to ₹95 lakh per candidate in parliamentary elections and ₹40 lakh for assembly elections, has had little bearing to dissuade non-serious candidates.