1.41% choose NOTA, number dips since last assembly polls in Rajasthan

Call of social organisations and forward caste groups to press for NOTA option apparently failed to get community support. Despite the much hype created before elections on social media and even local offices established by some organisations to gather more NOTA votes, the percentage of scratch votes nosedived. 

There were only 1.41 per cent who voted for NOTA this time while in last assembly elections there were 1.93 per cent voters who chose the option. Among 3,12,800 postal ballots received, only 0.8 per cent (2,622) went for NOTA. However,  more than 10 per cent of the postal ballots that amounts to 31,866 votes got rejected due to discrepancies. 

Despite a dip in percentage, 5,00,014 NOTA votes had apparent influence on several constituencies. 

Nearly 90 per cent of the constituencies had more than a thousand NOTA voters. There were a dozen constituencies where NOTA votes exceeded the victory margin, including the prestigious seats of Malviya Nagar and Pokaran. 

The  ‘none of the above’ (NOTA)  candidate option was introduced for the first time in Rajasthan in 2013 elections. This time special efforts were made by certain groups to motivate voters to choose the option to give voice to their anguish against caste-based politics. Even as the campaign failed to yield desired results, the percentage of NOTA voters was comparatively higher on reserved seats. 

With Kushalgarh seat recording highest 5.58 per cent  NOTA votes the top 12 constituencies in the list were from the reserved category.