Nearly three-fourth of candidates forfeit security money

ASSEMBLY POLLS

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, July 3: Of the total 1,064 candidates who contested in the recently-concluded assembly elections in the State, as many as 772 (or 72 percent) forfeited their security deposits. Among the 772 candidates, 710 are male and 62 female.  A candidate forfeits the security deposit of Rs 10,000 if he or she fails to bag at least one sixth of the total votes polled. Though the number of candidates were sizable, a major chunk were either independents or from smaller or unregistered parties. There were a total of 497 independent candidates and 174 from smaller parties.