New DelhiNovember 15, 2025 08:12 AM IST
First published on: Nov 15, 2025 at 08:07 AM IST
In the Bihar Assembly election fray this year, a total of 2,616 candidates tried their luck. But with just 243 seats for the taking, 8 in every 10 candidates ended up forfeiting their deposits for failing to win at least one-sixth of the total vote share in their respective seats.
A total of 2,107 candidates lost their Rs-10,000 deposit required to contest Assembly elections, accounting for 80.5% of all candidates. In total, the Election Commission (EC) had collected Rs 2.62 crore from all contesting candidates, with the total forfeitures amounting to Rs 2.12 crore.
Independent candidates accounted for the largest share of forfeited deposits. Of the 925 total Independent candidates, 915 or 98.9% lost their deposits.
Among the parties, the debutant Jan Suraaj, led by political strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor, suffered the most forfeited deposits – 236 (or 99.16%) of its total 238 candidates lost their deposits.
The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which frequently contests elections outside of its Uttar Pradesh base in large numbers of seats as a Dalit-oriented party, saw 176 (or 97.24%) of its 181 candidates forfeit their deposits.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also contested in its debut Bihar election this time, but all 83 of its candidates lost their deposits.
The Janshakti Janata Dal (JJD), founded by ex-RJD leader and Tejashwi Yadav’s elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav after a falling out with the family, saw 95.56% or 43 of its total 45 candidates give up their deposits. Tej Pratap himself was one of two JJD candidates to keep their deposits.
The Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP), a breakaway faction of the Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) that is led by Chirag’s uncle Pashupati Paras, also saw all 36 of its candidates lose their deposits.
Notably, among the major alliances, while no NDA candidate forfeited their deposits, 13 Mahagathbandhan candidates from five parties did. At 5 of its 61 candidates (or 8.2%), the Congress saw the most candidates forfeit their deposits, followed by the CPI at 4 of 9 (or 44.44%), the Mukesh Sahani-led Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) at 2 of 12 (16.67%), the I P Gupta-led Indian Inclusive Party (IIP) at 1 of 3 (33.33%), and the RJD at 1 of 143 (0.7%). Collectively, just 35 of the Mahagathbandhan’s 248 candidates (the alliance was engaged in several ‘friendly fights’) ended up winning their seat.
The Asaddudin Owaisi-led AIMIM, which won 5 seats, saw 19 candidates lose their deposits, accounting for 67.86% of all its 28 total nominees.
|
Party |
Deposits forfeited |
Total candidates |
Share |
|
Independent |
915 |
925 |
98.92 |
|
Jan Suraaj |
236 |
238 |
99.16 |
|
BSP |
176 |
181 |
97.24 |
|
AAP |
83 |
83 |
100.00 |
|
Janshakti Janta Dal |
43 |
45 |
95.56 |
|
Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party |
36 |
36 |
100.00 |
|
AIMIM |
19 |
28 |
67.86 |
|
Congress |
5 |
61 |
8.20 |
|
CPI |
4 |
9 |
44.44 |
|
VIP |
2 |
12 |
16.67 |
|
IIP |
1 |
3 |
33.33 |
|
RJD |
1 |
143 |
0.70 |
Source: EC