The Congress party's recent appeal to voters in Madhya Pradesh's Indore to choose the 'None of the Above' (NOTA) option has seen significant success.
As per the latest data from the Election Commission, NOTA has received over 2 lakh votes in the Lok Sabha seat, surpassing the previous record held by Gopalganj in Bihar.
NOTA provides voters with the option to reject all candidates in a constituency.
In the 2019 elections, Gopalganj recorded the highest number of NOTA votes with 51,660, which accounted for approximately 5% of the total votes polled in the constituency.
In Indore, NOTA has received 2,04,832 votes so far, making it the second highest after BJP candidate Shankar Lalwani, who secured 11,95,311 votes.
Interestingly, all 13 other candidates in Indore have received fewer votes than NOTA. The lead candidate, Lalwani, has a significant advantage over his nearest BSP rival, Sanjay Solanki, with a margin of 9,48,603 votes.
Prior to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Congress candidate Akshay Kanti Bam withdrew his nomination and joined the BJP, prompting the Congress party to urge voters in Indore to choose NOTA as a means to express their dissatisfaction with the BJP.
The option of NOTA was introduced on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in September 2013 following a Supreme Court decision.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu saw 46,559 votes cast for NOTA, which accounted for approximately 5% of the total votes polled in the constituency.
Notably, this marks the first time in the 72-year history of the Indore Lok Sabha seat that the Congress party has been absent from the race.
The voting in Indore took place on May 13, with a voter turnout of 61.75% among the 25.27 lakh electors, according to the Election Commission's data.
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