As many as 3,106 city residents accounting for 0.68 per cent of the total votes polled, preferred None of the Above (NOTA) option instead of favouring 17 candidates in the poll fray from Chandigarh Parliamentary constituency in lok Sabha polls.
NOTA, which stands for ‘None Of The Above’, was an option available to voters who do not want to vote in favour of any candidate standing for a particular constituency in lok Sabha polls.The city had witnessed highest ever voters’ turnout of 73.84 per cent in the lok Sabha polls 2014. A total of 4,53,317 voters including 244,901 male and 208,413 female voters had exercised their franchise on April 10.
As per the data of Chandigarh Election department, a large number of rural voters preferred the option of NOTA.As many as 453 voters opted for NOTA from the areas including Sector 32, 33, 34, 44, 45, 46, village Burail, Burail labour Colony no. 5 (Jail Road), village Faidian, Nizampur Farm, Kesho Ram Colony, Sector-48 & Sector-49 Societies House.
A total of 401 voters preferred NOTA from the rural areas of village Kishangarh, Bhagwan Pura Manimajra, Railway Colony, Shivalik Enclave, New Indira colony, Gawala colony, village Mauli Jagran, Mauli Jagran colony, village Makhanmajra and village Raipur Kalan.
A total of 0.68 per cent voters out of 453,317 voters pressed NOTA option instead of other 17 candidates in the poll fray. Of 17 candidates, eight in the poll fray were independent candidates.The 61-year-old Kher, who made her maiden electoral fray from Chandigarh seat, polled 1,91,362 votes emerged as a winner from city’s lone lok Sabha seat.
Among the key candidates in the ballot fight, Congress candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal got 26.84 per cent votes, AAP’s Gul Panag 23.97 per cent and Bahujan Samaj Party’s Jannat Jannat got 3.51 per cent votes.Surprisingly, the voting percentage in favour of NOTA was more than the voting percentage of 13 candidates in the ballot tussle from the city.
Other candidates, Reena Sharma, Independent (IND) got 2,643 votes (0.58 per cent), Shamsher Singh (IND) 0.45 per cent, Kawaljit Singh (CPI) 0.43 per cent, Pawan Kumar Sharma (IND) 0.22 per cent, Ramesh Chander (IND) 0.16 per cent, Ajay Singla (IND) 0.15 per cent, Khem lal Bansal (IVD) 0.14 per cent, Deepak Shukla (IND) 0.14 per cent, Dharmender Singh (HEP) 0.12 per cent, Surender Kumar (BMP) 0.12 per cent, Surender Bhardwaj (JDU) 0.10 per cent, Amarjit Kaur (IND) 0.09 per cent and Jasmer Singh (IND) 0.09 per cent.
Notably, the Chandigarh Election department had conducted over 30 campaigns to spread awareness about Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and inclusion of None of the above (NOTA) option in EVMs in the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
Fourteen candidates including BSP’s Jannat Jahan lost their security deposits on Friday after the announcement of poll results.
According to the Election Commission rules, if a candidate fails to get a minimum of one-sixth of the total valid votes polled, the deposit goes to the treasury. A candidate contesting from a general seat has to deposit `25,000 as security deposit while the amount is `12,500 for candidates contesting from reserved seats.