Supporters of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam in Tiruchi distribute crackers and distribute sweets to celebrate the swearing-in of party president C. Joseph Vijay as Chief Minister on May 10, 2026. Photo credit: The Hindu
About 83% of candidates in Tamil Nadu lost their deposit in the recently concluded assembly elections, followed by West Bengal where 78% lost their security amount.
While 3,352 candidates lost their deposit in Tamil Nadu in West Bengal, the number stood at 2,298. Tamil Nadu also saw the highest number of candidates in the poll at 4,023, while the corresponding figure for West Bengal was 2,920, according to data made available through the Election Commission’s website and ECINET app.
An election bond is an amount to be deposited with the Returning Officer when a candidate files their nomination. The deposit is forfeited during the election if the number of valid votes polled by the candidate is less than 1/6 of the total number of valid votes polled.
In terms of percentage, the least (63%) candidates lost their deposit in Assam, while in absolute numbers, it was the Union Territory of Puducherry that lost the least number of contestants with 220.
Puducherry also had the least number of candidates in the fray at 290.
While 563 out of 883 candidates lost their stake in Kerala (63.75%), in Assam 455 out of 722 candidates (63%) lost their stakes.
Tamil Nadu polled a total of 4,93,89,958 votes of which 4,91,24,329 were valid and in Kerala 2,16,30,208 votes were polled and 2,14,71,988 were valid. Female voters recorded a voter turnout of 86.2% in Tamil Nadu, higher than 83.77% for males. In Kerala, female voter turnout was 81.17% against 74.9% for males.
In the Union Territory of Puducherry, 8,66,932 votes were cast, of which 8,59,506 were valid.
Index cards and statistical reports were released for all 830 council constituencies that went to the polls. Re-polling was scheduled for 144-Falta constituency in West Bengal on 21 May 2026.
Published – 13 May 2026 23:21 IST
