The election deposits of 35 candidates who contested the House of Representatives seat in Rupandehi-3 have been forfeited, according to the Office of the Chief Returning Officer.

Only Lekh Jung Thapa of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), who was elected from the constituency, secured enough votes to retain his deposit. A total of 36 candidates had filed nominations in Rupandehi-3.

Ashok Kumar Basnet, Rupandehi’s chief returning officer, said that under legal provisions, any candidate in a direct election who fails to secure at least 10 percent of the total valid votes forfeits their security deposit. In this election, no candidate besides Thapa managed to reach that threshold.

Out of 89,414 valid votes cast in Rupandehi-3, Thapa received 58,814 votes.

His nearest competitor, Sushil Gurung of the Nepali Congress, secured 8,435 votes. Candidates needed at least 8,941 votes to retain their deposits.