Sameer Singh
Bathinda, March 11
The security deposit of as many as 80 candidates (78%) have been forfeited in Bathinda and Mansa districts, owing to a big margin win for the AAP in all nine Assembly seats.
However, Finance Minister and Congress candidate from Bathinda Urban Manpreet Badal managed to save his security deposit from being forfeited by a thin margin of just 2,360 votes (polled 29,476 of total 1,62,698 votes).
There were in 103 candidates in the fray on these nine seats falling in the Bathinda parliamentary constituency.
Prominent among those who lost their security deposit include SAD’s Sarup Chand Singla (from Bathinda Urban), Congress’ Pritam Singh Kotbhai (Bhucho), Congress’ Manju Bala (Maur) and Independent Harminder Singh Jassi (Talwandi Sabo), ex-MLA and a close relative of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
In order to save their security deposit, candidates in the fray had to secure a minimum 27,116 (1/6th of total polled) votes in Bathinda Urban seat.
In Bathinda district alone, of total 69 candidates in the fray from six Vidhan Sabha constituencies, 53 got their security deposit forfeited. Similarly, 27 of total 34 candidates contesting from three Assembly constituencies got their security deposits forfeited; nine of 11 from Mansa, 10 of 13 in Sardulgarh and eight of 10 in the fray from Budhlada. Also, 11 of 13 candidates in Bathinda Urban, five of eight in Bathinda Rural, 12 of 15 in Rampura Phul, 7 of 10 in Maur, 12 of 15 in Talwandi Sabo and six of eight in Bhucho Mandi got their security deposit forfeited.
FM through by a whisker
{$excerpt:n}
