New Delhi: Introduced for the first time, the None of the Above (NOTA) option got few takers in the assembly elections in four states, results for which were declared on Sunday.
The highest percentage of NOTA votes was polled in Chhattisgarh, which was also the first of the five states to go to polls.
A total of 4.6 per cent voters chose this option in Chhattisgarh. In Rajasthan, 1.5 per cent voters chose NOTA, while the number was 1.4 per cent in Madhya Pradesh.
Delhi had the smallest number of voters choosing NOTA, with only 0.58 per cent of the total votes falling in this category. Delhi has over 11.5 million eligible voters.
Political expert Pradip Kumar Datta said one of the reasons for NOTA not being very effective could be that it has ‘no teeth’.
“NOTA by itself is not very effective. You go all the way and stand in a line to say you are discontented. But it is simply a record of your discontent which has no value,” said Datta, professor of Political Science at Delhi University.
“If there were a provision like majority NOTA votes would lead to repoll, the option would have had some practical teeth… and probably some value for the voters,” he said.
“NOTA is anyhow toothless as of now, because even if 99 per cent votes are NOTA, and a candidate gets one per cent votes, he will still win,” said Yashwant Deshmukh, founder of the Centre for Voting Opinion and Trends in Election Research (CVOTER).
On Delhi, experts say Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) replaced the NOTA option.
NOTA was introduced for the first time for voters in the five-state elections, following a Supreme Court ruling on September 27. (IANS)
