Over 4 lakh voters opted for NOTA in Gujarat

More than 4 lakh voters in Gujarat, which amounts to 1.38 per cent of the eligible votes, have chosen to express their dislike for all the contesting candidates in the parliamentary elections held in the state on April 23 by selecting the None of the Above (NOTA) option. NOTA garnered the third highest votes on 17 seats after BJP and Congress, surpassing the votes received by the candidates of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which had contested all the 26 seats in the state.

The number of electors choosing the NOTA option in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls has actually declined as compared to the general elections held in 2014 and the assembly elections held in 2017. As compared to the slightly over 4 lakh votes under the NOTA option in 2019, 4.49 lakh votes were polled in the general election of 2014, which was 1.74 per cent of the total votes polled.

Similarly, the NOTA vote share of 1.84 per cent in the assembly elections held in 2017 was the highest so far the state, with over 5.51 lakh electors choosing to reject all the candidates contesting the polls. Interestingly, the winning margin in around 30 assembly constituencies was less than the votes polled under NOTA option, clearly indicating the game changing role played by the option.

As per the data available on the Election Commission website, tribal dominated areas of Chhota Udepur, Dahod, Bardoli, and Panchmahals, have emerged as the top constituencies when it comes to voters choosing the NOTA option. While 32,868 voters opted for NOTA in Chhota Udepur, which is as high as 2.67 per cent of the total votes polled in the constituency, 31,936 NOTA votes were polled in Dahod which is 3 per cent of the total votes casted. Similarly, 22,914 NOTA votes were casted in Bardoli, whereas the number of people option for the option in Panchmahals and Valsad was 20,133 and 19,307, respectively.

As far as urban constituencies are concerned, 14,719 NOTA votes were polled in Ahmedabad West, while 9,008 NOTA votes were polled in Ahmedabad East. Rajkot recorded 18,318 NOTA votes, whereas Vadodara and Surat recorded 16,999 and 10,532 such votes.

BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya said people wanted to vote for Narendra Modi and that is why the percentage of votes under NOTA has reduced in the 2019 polls.

#Vote Share

• 4 lakh voters (1.38 %) opted for NOTA in 2019 LS Polls
• BJP-62.21 % votes, Congress-32.11 %
• BSP-0.86 %, NCP-0.09 %, CPI-0.02 %
• Tribal dominated constituencies of Chhota Udepur, Dahod, Bardoli, and Panchmahals record highest NOTA votes