Deposits of 570 candidates seized in Tanahun

By Amaraj Naharki Tanahun, June 8: Deposits kept for the May 13 local level polls by 570 candidates of political parties and independents have been seized in Tanahun district for failing to secure at least 10 per cent of the total votes.

Of the 1,637 candidates who contested the elections from the district, 570 had their deposit amount seized, chief of District Election Office Hari Prasad Dhakal said.

They had their surety seized after failing to bring at least 10 percent of the total ballots, said Dhakal.

Most of the candidates are from small political parties, he added.

According to the District Election Office, deposits of 31 candidates of Devghat Rural Municipality, 29 candidates of Aabukhaireni Rural Municipality, 20 candidates of Bandipur Rural Municipality, 24 candidates of Hiring Rural Municipality, 28 candidates of Rishing Rural Municipality and 45 candidates of Myagdi Rural Municipality have been seized.

Similarly, the surety of 161 candidates of Byas Municipality, 142 candidates of Bhanu Municipality, 27 candidates of Bhimad Municipality and 63 candidates of Shuklagandaki Municipality have been seized.

The Election Commission had fixed deposit of Rs. 1,500 each for mayor and deputy mayor, Rs. 1,000 for ward chairperson and Rs 500 for ward member, while the commission had provided 50 per cent discount for women ward member and Dalit member.

The district saw a voter turnout of around 64.3 per cent. Of the total 244,340 votes, 157,122 were cast in the polls.

From the local polls, a total of 445 representatives have been elected in Tanahun, including 20 chiefs and deputy chiefs of rural and urban municipalities, 85 ward chairperson and 340 ward members.

A total of 28 candidates contested for the posts of mayor, 21 for deputy mayor, 33 for chairperson, 31 for vice-chair, 360 for ward chairperson and 1,164 for ward member.

Out of 1,752 candidates in 10 municipalities of the district, 115 candidates withdrew their nomination.

According to the Election Office, the deposit of Atindra Keshari Neupane, a CPN (Maoist Centre) candidate for the post of mayor in Byas Municipality has also been seized.

The deposit of Nepal Congress (NC) and CPN-UML’s candidates were not seized, however.

The NC has emerged as the major political party in the elections in Tanahun. However, it alone has not been able to get a majority for the formation of the District Coordination Committee (DCC).

Earlier, in the local elections of 2017, the NC had got a clear majority for the DCC.  It had won 12 seats including the mayor and deputy mayor and chairman and deputy chairman.

Out of 10 local levels, the NC has won only 10 seats, including five posts of mayor and rural municipality chair and five posts of deputy mayor and vice-chairman.

In the previous election, the NC had won 12 seats and got a clear majority for the formation of the DCC, while it lacked one seat for the majority this time.

There are 20 voters for the DCC elections.  Only chiefs and deputy chiefs of the local bodies can cast their votes.

The NC has won both chiefs and deputy chiefs of Byas and Bhanu municipalities and Rishing Rural Municipality.

Similarly, the UML has won six seats including four chief positions and two deputy chiefs.

The UML has secured victory in the posts of chiefs and deputy chiefs of Ghiring Rural Municipality and Bhimad Municipality, while it has won chief positions of Myagde and Bandipur Rural municipalities.

This time, the NC has lost the chief position in Myagde, chair and vice chair positions of Aabukhaireni Rural Municipality while the CPN (MC) has won the chairman of Devghat Rural Municipality.

Likewise, the NC has won chair of 46 wards out of 85, UML 28 wards and CPN (MC) seven awards.

The UML has secured second position while the CPN (MC) has emerged as the third major party in the district.