46 lose election deposit in Sundargarh

ROURKELA: A TOTAL of 41 of 61 candidates who contested for seven Assembly segments lost their deposits after failing to secure one-sixth or 16.66 per cent of total valid votes cast. The list also includes five of the eight contestants for Sundargarh Lok Sabha (LS) constituencies.

In Sundargarh LS poll, five candidates who lost their deposits bagged 54,858 votes, while 13,675 were NOTA votes out of total 11,00,129 valid votes polled.

Only one Independent contestant, Juspin Lakra polled 14,790 votes, while another Independent candidate and three smaller parties, Hindusthan Nirman Dal, Socialist Unity Centre of India and Aam Aadmi Party, polled embarrassing figures between 4,205 and 9,524 votes.

The scenario was worse in seven Assembly segments with 41 candidates failing to protect their security deposits. Together, they polled 1,12,980 votes and total NOTA votes were 10,731.

State BJD secretary AC Mohanty said only awareness among voters can eliminate such non-serious players, and added that at times parties also field dummy candidates to curb chances of opponents. Social activist VP Tiwari said NOTA votes at times become the defeating factor for good candidates and it is not a good sign for healthy voting system.