The Indore Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh received more than 1.7 lakh votes in the ‘None of the Above’ option, beating the previous record of Gopalganj in Bihar.
In 2019, the Gopalganj Lok Sabha seat in Bihar recorded the maximum NOTA votes at 51,660, about 5 per cent of the total votes polled in the constituency.
As per the latest data available on the Election Commission of India (ECI) website, Indore registered 1,72,798 votes in NOTA — the second highest after BJP candidate Shankar Lalwani who got 9,90,698 votes. All the 13 other candidates in Indore have so far received less votes than NOTA.
Counting of votes is currently underway for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Ahead of the 2024 general elections, Congress’ Indore candidate Akshay Kanti Bam withdrew his nomination on April 29, the last date of the withdrawal of nominations, and subsequently joined the BJP in April.
In response, the Congress then appealed to the people to press NOTA during polling in Indore on May 13 to ”teach the saffron party a lesson”.
The Congress has been out of poll race in Indore for the first time in this Lok Sabha seat’s 72-year history. The voting in Indore took place on May 13, with 61.75 per cent of the 25.27 lakh electors exercising their franchise, as per the EC’a data.
What is NOTA?
The “None of the Above” (NOTA) option is available on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for voters who do not wish to support any political candidate. This allows them to exercise their right not to vote without revealing their decision.
Choosing NOTA signifies that the voter has decided not to back any particular party or candidate. If NOTA receives the highest number of votes in a constituency, the candidate with the second-highest number of votes is declared the winner.
Before NOTA was included in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), voters who wished to reject all candidates had to fill out Form 49-O at a voting booth. However, this process compromised the secrecy of the voter’s choice.
In India, NOTA on EVM was introduced following a Supreme Court judgment on September 27, 2013. It aimed to discourage political parties from fielding tainted candidates.
The NOTA option was first used in the Assembly elections held in four states — Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh — and the Union Territory of Delhi in 2013. More than 15 lakh people exercised this option in the state polls, with 3.56 lakh in Chhattisgarh, 5.9 lakh in Madhya Pradesh, and 5.67 lakh in Rajasthan.
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