Only 48 Candidates in Karnali Secure Deposit Refunds

In the House of Representatives elections, only 48 candidates from Karnali were able to secure the refund of their election deposits. Out of 138 candidates from various parties and independent backgrounds competing across 12 constituencies in Karnali, 90 failed to get their deposits back. Surkhet, which has the highest number of voters across its two constituencies, saw 30 candidates in the race.

Lal Bahadur Gurung, chief of the Provincial Election Office in Surkhet, stated that out of those thirty candidates, 24 in Surkhet lost their deposits, while only six managed to save them. In Dailekh, which also has two constituencies, there were 21 candidates.

In Dailekh Constituency No. 1, which had 10 candidates including one independent, and Constituency No. 2, which had 11 candidates including two independents, only four candidates in each constituency saved their deposits. In Jumla district, where there were 10 candidates including one independent, four candidates also saved their deposits. 

Similarly, only three out of 11 candidates in Jajarkot, six out of 16 in Salyan, three out of 12 in Rukum West, and four out of eight candidates in Humla managed to retain their deposits. According to the election office, four candidates in Kalikot and three in Dolpa also saved their deposits. Notably, 36 candidates in Karnali were unable to cross the 100-vote mark.