In Himachal AAP said it would win, it lost deposit in almost all, is defeated by NOTA in 24

In Himachal Pradesh, AAP is losing to NOTA in at least 24 seats. The party managed to secure above 1,000 votes in only 14 seats and couldn't garner even 1% vote share in 52 seats

New Delhi, Dec 08: Counting for Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat state Assemblies took place today. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) while announcing its candidates said that it would form governments in both the states. In Himachal Pradesh, the party contested in 67 seats and is losing deposit in almost all of them. To save the deposit, a candidate must secure at least one-sixth of the total valid votes cast in a constituency.

In at least 24 seats, the AAP candidates are losing to NOTA. The AAP managed to secure above 1,000 votes in only 14 seats. On 52 seats, the party was unable to secure even one per cent vote share. The worst performance by the AAP was in Garget and Barsar where it managed to get 139 and 148 votes respectively.

What does losing a deposit mean:

According to the Representation of People Act , 1951, it is mandatory for every candidate contesting an election to deposit a certain amount of money. In the case of the Parliamentary election, it is Rs 25,000 while for the Assembly election, it is Rs 10,000.

The security deposit is made with the Election Commission to ensure only serious candidates file nominations to contest elections. To save the security deposit, the candidate must get over one-sixth of the total number of valid votes cast in the constituency. If the candidate loses deposit, the Election Commission will not return the deposit.