What is NOTA: Alongside candidates, NOTA has emerged as a popular choice among voters in Lok Sabha elections. In UP too, NOTA was heavily utilized. In some places, the percentage of votes received by NOTA exceeded that of the candidates. NOTA was extensively used in this year’s elections. There are some candidates, who bagged even lesser votes to NOTA.
Candidates Who Lost to NOTA
Candidates from smaller parties, and independent candidates contesting all 5 Lok Sabha seats in the Bareilly region, not only lost to NOTA but also forfeited their security deposits in some places. In Bareilly, after the BJP and SP-Congress alliance candidates, the next was NOTA. In Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Amroha, and Pilibhit, NOTA received the most votes after BJP, SP-Congress alliance, and BSP candidates.
Number of Votes for NOTA
Badaun Seat: NOTA received the highest 8,562 votes. NOTA remained in fourth place.
Pilibhit: NOTA received more votes than 7 candidates. A total of 6,741 people pressed the NOTA button.
Amroha: With 6,858 votes, NOTA defeated 6 candidates.
Bareilly Seat: The number of voters who pressed the NOTA button was 6,260.
Shahjahanpur: A total of 8,490 voters used NOTA.
Bareilly Region: 36,911 voters pressed the NOTA button. In the Bareilly seat, 3,824 voters pressed the NOTA button in 2019.
Deoria: 10,212 voters pressed the ‘NOTA’ button.
Kushinagar: With 9782 voters pressing the NOTA button, it remained in fifth place ahead of five independents.
Maharajganj: Despite contesting against 8 candidates, 9745 voters used NOTA.
NOTA’s Impact on Victories and Losses
There are two seats where in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, NOTA was considered the reason for victory or defeat. These seats are Machhlishahr and Shravasti. In Machhlishahr, BJP’s VP Saroj defeated BSP’s T Ram. The difference between the two was only 181 votes. Here, 10,830 voters pressed the NOTA button, placing it in fourth place. In Shravasti, BSP’s Ram Shiro Mani Varma defeated BJP’s Daddan Mishra by a margin of 5,320 votes. NOTA was used by 17,108 people here.
Rise in NOTA Usage
NOTA Vote Percentage in Elections:
2014: 5,92,331 votes, 0.71%
2019: 7,25,097 votes, 0.84%
In the 2014 parliamentary elections in UP, the constituency with the least use of NOTA was:
Mathura -0.18%
Amethi -0.20%
Kanpur -0.27%
Jaunpur -0.26%
Kairana -0.35%
In the 2019 parliamentary elections in UP, the constituency with the least use of NOTA was:
Bijnor – 0.40%
Gautam Buddh Nagar – 0.60%
Badaun – 0.80%
Azamgarh – 0.70%
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, NOTA was most pressed in Robertsganj.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in UP, NOTA was most pressed in Robertsganj. It remained in fourth place here. Similarly, in the Machhlishahr Lok Sabha seat, where the victory-defeat margin was only 181 votes, NOTA was pressed by 10,830 voters. In Ballia, NOTA remained in fourth place despite receiving 9615 votes after major parties. Similarly, in Azamgarh, NOTA was in fourth place with 7255 votes.
NOTA in UP Lok Sabha 2014
The Election Commission gave voters the option of NOTA in the 2014 elections. If none of the candidates were preferred, voters could press the NOTA button. In the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat in 2014, 2051 votes were cast for NOTA, and 29 candidates lagged behind NOTA. Let’s talk about the 13 seats of Purvanchal, where every year NOTA has been increasing. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, 53.3% of the votes were cast on the Ballia Lok Sabha seat. There were 15 candidates in the fray. Among those who received fewer votes than NOTA were candidates from various registered parties including the Aam Aadmi Party and independents.
UP Lok Sabha Election Result 2024: Chandrashekhar, who won from the Nagina parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh, could potentially join the NDA or extend support from outside with certain conditions. According to sources, Akhilesh Yadav is not pleased with Chandrashekhar’s behavior, reminiscent of his conduct during the UP Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Akhilesh was reluctant to allocate even a single seat to Chandrashekhar. Although an offer was made to Chandrashekhar to contest elections under the SP’s symbol, he declined the offer.
