1,790 candidates lose deposit in MCD polls, 92 of Congress

NEW DELHI: Over 70 per cent of the 2,516 candidates, including 40 of the AAP and 92 of the Congress, lost their security deposit in the Delhi municipal elections.

"As many as 1,790 candidates lost their deposit. In the 2012 municipal polls, 1,782 out of the 2,423 candidates in the fray had forfeited their deposit," Delhi State Election Commissioner S K Srivastava told reporters.

The BJP, which scored a hat-trick in the municipal polls with a resounding victory, saw only five of its candidates losing their deposit.

According to the Commission, about 40 AAP candidates lost deposit, while 92 of the Congress met the same fate.

"192 of the BSP and 94 of the JD(U), 55 of the 56 Shiv Sena candidates forfeited their deposit," he said.

"In 2012, 203 candidates of the BSP, 18 of the BJP, and 26 of the Congress, had to forfeit security," he said.

The BJP today won 181 out of 270 wards for which the elections were held on April 23. The saffron party added muscle to its decade-long domination of the corporations effortlessly bucking anti-incumbency by riding on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The BJP's corporation-wise tally is: SDMC - 70, NDMC - 64 and EDMC - 47 as against the AAP's tally of 16, 21 and 11 respectively. The Congress finished last with 12, 15 and 3 wards.