Bengaluru: Around 5000 nomination papers were submitted in total by Thursday, which was the last date for filing nomination papers for the upcoming Karnataka assembly polls. At the same time, the Election Commission figures indicate that sometimes a third of the candidates forefeit their deposits and sometimes it rises to half of the entire candidates in the fray.
While 1,694 candidates lost their deposits in the 2008 Assembly elections, the number spiked to 2,419 candidates in 2013 and came down to 1,146 candidates in 2018. A total of 2,242 candidates contested in 2008, 2,948 candidates in 2013 and 2,892 candidates in 2018 in the 224 constituency-Assembly elections
One might come across several questions about what is the security amount that needs to be paid to contest polls, what is the purpose of this security deposit taken by the Election Commission and what are the conditions one needs to fulfil so that one's security deposit does not get forfeited.
What amount should one pay to contest state assembly polls?
As per Section 34 (1) (a) of the Representation of the People Act,1951, every candidate should mandatorily deposit a security amount of Rs. 10, 000 to fight an Assembly election. For Parliamentary polls, the amount is Rs.25000. For SC/ST candidates the number is Rs. 5,000 for assembly elections and Rs 12,500 for Parliamentary elections.
When does a candidate's security amount get forfeited?
Section 158 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 states that if a candidate gets less than one-sixth of the total number of valid votes that have been cast in any constituency then his security deposit will be confiscated. For instance, if one lakh votes were cast in any constituency a candidate needs to get at least 16,666 votes.
There have been instances in India's election history when a candidate has secured exactly one-sixth of the votes in the elections. In such a situation the candidates' security deposit gets confiscated.
This rule has been kept in force by the Election Commission so that candidates do not file nominations just for the sake of it and are serious and confident of winning or giving a tight competition.
The grim numbers in Karnataka
While 1,694 candidates lost their deposits in the 2008 Assembly elections, the number spiked to 2,419 candidates in 2013 and came down to 1,146 candidates in 2018. A total of 2,242 candidates contested in 2008, 2,948 candidates in 2013 and 2,892 candidates in 2018 in the 224 constituency-Assembly elections.
In the last Assembly elections in 2018, BJP's 104 candidates won out of 224 seats contested and 39 lost their deposits. The Congress won 80 seats out of a total of 223 seats contested. 13 Congress candidates got their deposits forfeited. 37 JDS candidates won and 107 lost their deposits. A total of 1,153 independent candidates contested in 2018, out of which 1,138 got their deposits confiscated.
In the 2013 Assembly elections, BJP fielded 223 candidates out of whom only 40 candidates won. The saffron party, however, was facing the heat of former Chief Minister Yediyurappa's rebellion, a prominent Lingayat leader who has got sizeable support among the Lingayats, a dominant caste group in the state. 110 BJP candidates lost their deposits.
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The Congress party won 122 seats but the deposits of 23 candidates were confiscated. The JDS won 40 seats out of 222 constituencies contested among whom 110 candidates lost their deposits. The newly formed KJP party that was set up by Yediyurappa won six seats out of 204 constituencies contested. 146 KJP candidates lost their deposits. Among the 1,217 independents, only nine won and 1,190 got their security deposits confiscated.
In the 2008 Assembly elections, BJP fielded candidates in all 224 constituencies. Out of them, 110 candidates won, but 31 had to lose their deposit. The Congress party fielded 222 candidates among which 80 candidates won and 11 got their deposits confiscated. The JDS fielded 219 candidates out of whom only 28 candidates won and 107 candidates lost their deposits. Among the independents, deposits of 923 candidates out of a total of 944 were forfeited.
Candidates will start campaigning for the May 10 elections on Friday, the results of which will be declared on May 13. The scrutiny of nominations will be done on April 21 while April 24 marks the last day for the withdrawal of candidature.
