99.75% independent candidates lost LS polls

Over 99 per cent of independent candidates failed to make it to the Lok Sabha this year, registering a negligible decrease of 0.5 per cent from the 2004 polls.

According to the Election Commission data, 99.75 per cent out of their total of 3,691 independent candidates -- including 3,491 men and 200 women -- only nine could win while the rest lost the poll battles.

The nine candidates declared winners include Kirodi Lal, who contested from Dausa (Rajasthan), Kalyan Singh from Etah in Uttar Pradesh, Madhu Kora from Singhbhum (Jharkhand) seat, Tarun Mondal from Joynagar in West Bengal and Om Prakash Yadav from Siwan constituency in Bihar.

Sadashivrao Dadoba Mandlik from Kolhapur (Maharashtra), Digvijay Singh from Banka in Bihar, Inder Singh Namdhari from Chatra (Jharkhand) and Hassan Khan from Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir also won as independent candidates during the polls.

The highest winning margin was achieved by Kirodi Lal who won the Dausa seat by a comfortable margin of 1,37,759 votes from his nearest rival Qummer Rubbani, another independent candidate, who got 2,95,907 votes.