LS polls: 21 out of 23 CPI(M) candidates lose their deposit

Kolkata: Out of 23 candidates CPI(M) had fielded in Lok Sabha elections 2024, as many as 21 candidates lost their security deposits. CPI(M)’s attempt to turn the electoral fortune by fielding youth candidates proved to be a futile exercise as their deposits were forfeited.

Out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats, the CPI(M) had fielded their candidates in 23 seats while other Left parties had fielded candidates in 7 seats. After election results were published, it was found that out of 23 candidates the CPI(M) had fielded, 21 lost their deposits.

Incidentally, the two candidates who managed to secure their deposits are senior leaders of the party. They are Md Selim and Sujan Chakraborty. Selim fought the poll from Murshidabad Lok Sabha while Chakraborty fought from Dum Dum. This time, the CPI(M) fielded a host of youth candidates. Among these new faces, Srijan Bhattacharya who fought the election from Jadavpur on CPI(M)’s ticket and Deepshita Dhar who fought from Srerampore failed to secure their deposits by a close margin.

Youth candidate and lawyer Sayan Bandopadhyay who fought from Tamluk on CPI(M)’s ticket received less than one lakh votes which was 5.41 per cent of the total votes polled in the constituency. Bandopadhyay also lost his security deposits. CPI(M)’s candidate in Diamond Harbour Pratik Ur Rahaman who had contested against Trinamool Congress’ Abhishek Banerjee and BJP’s Abhijit Das also lost his deposit as he got 5.68 per cent of the total votes polled. He had received less than one lakh votes.

According to the norms of the Election Commission of India (ECI), a candidate will only be able to secure his/her security deposits if he/she gets one sixth of the total votes polled in that particular constituency they are contesting from. If someone wants to contest Lok Sabha elections, he/she has to deposit Rs 25,000 with the commission as deposit money. If a candidate fails to get one sixth of the total votes polled, he/she forfeits the deposits. The 21 CPI(M) candidates altogether lost Rs 5,25,000 which they had deposited as security deposit.