The number of candidates contesting in the proportional representation (PR) category of the federal and provincial polls comes down to 5,838, according to the final list published by the Election Commission on Sunday.

Following the EC’s investigation into the complaints registered against the candidates between November 4 and November 10, the election authority slashed the number of candidates by 256. Of them, candidacies of 253 were cancelled by the EC while the three had withdrawn their nomination.

As many as 3,217 of the candidates are women, making up 55.1 percent of the total. There is one candidate from the third gender. Of the total candidates, 2,273 are for the federal elections while 3,565 have been listed for the provincial polls.

There were a total of 6,094 candidates when the parties submitted their revised lists on November 3, after cancellation and withdrawal of candidacies.  Among the federal election PR candidates, 1,224 are women, accounting for 53.85 percent. But the percentage of women varies from province to province. The representation of indigenous communities is 28.82 percent while the Khas-Arya group makes up 30.93 percent of the total number of contestants. Representation of the Tharus, Dalits, Madhesis and Muslims stands at 6.64 percent, 13.86 percent, 15.62 percent and 4.14 percent, respectively.

Among the candidates for provincial elections, 55.9 percent are women. There is 27.88 percent representation of indigenous nationalities while the Khas-Aryas hold 30.55 percent seats. There are 7.1 percent Tharu contestants and 13.46 percent Dalit contestants while 17.31 percent contestants belong to the Madhesi and 3.7 percent to the Muslim communities, according to the EC.