Delhi polls: Around 0.4 per cent of voters cast NOTA

NEW DELHI: The None of the Above (NOTA) option constituted 0.4 per cent of the total votes cast in the Delhi elections that saw a resurgent AAP party today sweeping 67 seats.

Nearly 36,000 NOTA votes were polled, which comprised 0.4 per cent of the total ballots cast in Delhi, which is less than the corresponding figure of 49,000 recorded last time.

Over 1.33 crore electorate decided the fate of 673 candidates in the Delhi Assembly elections.

For the first time, the Election Commission had last year provided the NOTA option button in the EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) for voters who did not wish to vote for any of the candidates in the poll fray.

Babarpur recorded the lowest number of the NOTA votes at 290 while highest was recorded at Matiala at 1102.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal's New Delhi constituency saw 465 votes being polled as NOTA, while losing BJP's chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi's Krishna Nagar seat saw 358.

Among those constituencies recording a NOTA of over 800 were -- Bawana (870), Karwal Nagar (888) and Kirari (840).

A record 67.14 per cent turnout was registered on February 7 in the fiercely fought Assembly polls, where a spirited AAP obliterated BJP, reducing its share in the 70-member House to just 3.

After the SC order in September 2013, EC added the NOTA button on the Electronic Voting Machines as the last option on the voting panel.

Prior to the apex court order, those not inclined to vote for any candidate had the option of filling what is popularly called 'form 49-O'. But filling the form at the polling station under Rule 49-O of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, compromised the secrecy of the voter.

Supreme Court had, however, refused to direct the Election Commission to hold fresh polls if the majority of the electorate exercises the NOTA option while voting.