With the BJP sweeping the Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh by winning all 29 seats in the state, including the Congress citadel of Chhindwara, as many as 311 out of the total 369 candidates in the fray lost their security deposits, officials said on Friday.
This comes to more than 84 per cent of the candidates losing their deposit that ranged from Rs 12,500 to Rs 25,000 each, an official said.
With all 29 seats under its belt, the BJP became the first political party to achieve such a feat after 40 years in Madhya Pradesh. The victory margin of the BJP ranged between 1 lakh to 5 lakh votes in 26 constituencies, while it stood under 1 lakh in Bhind, Gwalior, and Morena constituencies.
The BJP received 59.3 per cent vote share, up by around 1.3 per cent as compared to the 2019 poll results.
Fifty-eight of the total 369 candidates, including all 29 nominees of the BJP, 27 of the Congress and two of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) did not lose their deposit, Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Anupam Rajan told PTI over phone.
Though the Congress' vote share dipped by 2.1 per cent this time, none of its candidates lost their deposit. Its vote share came down to 32.4 per cent from 34.5 per cent in 2019.
According to another EC official, a candidate has to secure one-sixth of the total valid votes cast in the constituency.
The most spectacular victory was registered by BJP's sitting MP from Indore, Shankar Lalwani, who bagged the seat by the potentially highest-ever margin of 11,75,092 votes.
Congress did not contest the Indore seat after its candidate Akshay Kanti Bam crossed over to the BJP. All other 13 candidates lost their deposit in Indore. BSP candidate Lakshman Solanki pocketed 51,659 votes and ranked second in Indore, but he lost his deposit.
Candidates from Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes have to keep Rs 12,500 as security deposit, while those belonging to the general category have to pay Rs 25,000, the EC official said.
It is hard to work out the total amount of the forfeited security deposit, he said.
Two BSP candidates - Narayan Tripathi from Satna and Ramesh Garg from Morena - were able to save their deposits. Tripathi polled more than 1.85 lakh votes, while Garg garnered more than 1.79 lakh votes.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
