Elections
After two big polls, NOTA remains a one-percenter
Summary
- And the appeal of the much-hyped polling option only declined in 2019 as compared to the first attempt in 2014. But there were some states where it did attract more voters. Here’s what data shows.
The ongoing Lok Sabha elections are the third in which voters have the option to pick ‘none of the above (Nota)’ in the list of candidates. Once touted as an agent of hope in a messy electoral landscape, this tool has been toothless so far in its one decade of existence. Just over 1% of the voters picked the option in both 2014 and 2019, with the appeal only declining in the second attempt. It’s relatively more popular in some seats in Bihar and Odisha, particularly in those with high adivasi (tribal) populations, but overall, Nota hasn’t made much of a dent in the political discourse.
Nota-able?
In both 2014 and 2019, a majority of the 543 seats saw fewer than 1% of the voters picking Nota. Around one-third of the seats saw a 1-2% vote share, and only four seats in 2014 and five in 2019 saw it cross the 4% mark. The limited popularity only declined in 2019, as most constituencies saw a decline in the Nota vote share. The constituencies that saw the sharpest fall were Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, Tura in Meghalaya and Malappuram in Kerala.
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Pockets of dissent
Only 10 seats, mostly in the east, saw a relatively high vote share (more than 2.5%) in both years. Six of these were in Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha, where voters registered discontent against the candidates fielded by political parties. Gujarat in the west has also seen some appeal for Nota as it has featured at the top in both the last two elections. The overall trend has been driven by seats reserved for candidates from the scheduled tribes, where the vote share for Nota tends to far exceed the national average.
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Podium finish
While Nota’s electoral value is limited, there have been instances where it could have led to various ‘what-ifs’ for winners and runners-up. That could be the case when Nota exceeds the winning margin—implying that if the runner-up had got those votes, he or she could have bagged the glory. There were also a high number of instances when Nota got a podium finish—though many of these could also be bipolar seats.
Also Read: What data says about India’s reluctant electors
