Bajura. KATHMANDU — The bail deposits of five candidates have been forfeited after the final results of the election to the House of Representatives held on March 4 were made public on Sunday. Five of the eight candidates who contested the election failed to cross the threshold, forfeiting their deposits.

According to Clause 64 of Chapter-10 of the Election Act, the deposit of the candidates who secure less than 10 per cent of the total valid votes cast in the first-past-the-post electoral system shall be forfeited. KATHMANDU: The bail of Prakash Bahadur Shah, a candidate of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) in the House of Representatives election, has been forfeited. He is also a former minister of Sudurpaschim Province.

According to the Office of the Chief Election Officer, there are a total of 87,861 voters in the constituency. Of them, 45,242 votes were cast. Of the total votes cast, 43,896 were valid while 1,346 were invalid. As per the Act of the Election Commission, the deposit will be forfeited if at least 10 per cent of the total votes are not seen.

Shah garnered only 3,424 votes. He had to muster 4,389 votes to secure his bail as per the provisions of the Election Act. According to the election results obtained by Shah, the bail will be forfeited. Hemraj Thapa of Rastriya Swatantra Party secured 6,035 votes more than former minister Shah. Shah secured 3,424 votes to finish fourth.

Shah was elected to the House of Representatives and State Assemblies in 2074 BS from Bajura (B) on a CPN-UML ticket. In the 2017 elections, Shah had garnered 18,186 votes while NC’s Padam Shahi garnered 14,977 votes.

Along with Shah, the bail of five candidates has been confiscated. The government has forfeited the deposits of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) candidate Keshar Bahadur Shahi, CPN (Maoist Centre)’s Bhupendra Lwar, Pragatisheel Loktantrik Party’s Dick Kumar DC and independent candidate Upendra Shahi. Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) candidate Shahi got 352 votes, CPN (Maoist Centre) candidate Lwar got 233 votes, Pralotantra Party’s DC got 97 votes and independent candidate Shahi got 72 votes.