In the lok Sabha elections, in Madhya Pradesh’s 29 constituencies, more than 3.91 lakh voters used None Of The Above (NOTA) option, whether on EVMs or postal ballots.
Maximum of 30,364 voters used NOTA in Ratlam constituency, while Gwalior had the lowest number of 4,219 voters used NOTA.
Other constituencies where NOTA was used are — Balaghat (6922), Betul (26726), Dewas (10,253), Guna (12481), Chhindwara (25499), Damoh (12600), Dhar (15437), Hoshangabad (18741), Indore (5,944), Jabalpur (7,888), Khajuraho (7838), Khandwa (17149), Khargone (22141), Rajgarh (10292), Morena (4792), Mandla (28306), Mandsaur (8568), Bhind (5572), Vidisha (10618), Bhopal (5181), Sidhi (12287), Tikamgarh (10055), Sidhi (17350), Sagar (9504), Shahdol (21376), Satna (13036) and Rewa (10658).
Notably, the Election Commission of India (ECI) had for the first time used the NOTA option in the postal ballots and the EVMs during the assembly elections held in November-December, 2013. As per the rules laid down by the ECI, the votes counted in the NOTA category are considered as invalid votes.
Besides, the ECI has directed that the number of valid votes would be the only basis for deciding security deposit of the candidate. In the last assembly elections held in Madhya Pradesh, 6,43,144 voters had used the NOTA option.Meanwhile, the ECI has informed that 318 candidates out of 378 lost their deposits in Madhya Pradesh.They also included those candidates who represented political parties along with 126 independents. Maximum number of 28 candidates were in the fray in Bhopal constituency and out of them 26, including 11 independents lost their deposits.