While 4,60,741 voters across the state had opted for NOTA in the last assembly elections, this time the number rises to 7,01,564
There was complete silence at the residence of MNS president Raj Thackeray after the party's humiliating loss. Pics/Ashish Raje
With the None of the Above (NOTA) option in EVMs gaining popularity with every election and more and more voters opting for it, it seems that people are slowly losing faith in the system. Compared to 65,735 voters in the city choosing NOTA in the 2014 assembly elections, the number has shot to 1,41,984 this year. Similarly, 7,01,564 voters across the state opted for NOTA this time compared to 4,60,741 in the last election.
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While Latur assembly recorded the highest number of NOTA votes (27,287), which is 13.85 per cent of the total, in Ulhasnagar the BJP candidate received 43,577 votes whereas 4,978 NOTA votes were recorded. According to the trend, voters of those constituencies chose NOTA where there weren't strong opponents. This time 1.4 per cent of the total number of voters (5,30 crore) chose NOTA as compared to 2014's 0.9 per cent.
Mostly the trend was seen in Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region this time, but a couple of rural constituencies recorded more than 5 per cent of NOTA votes. In Jogeshwari East, where Sena's Ravindra Waikar won with a huge margin, 12,009 people (8.08 per cent) chose NOTA. Even in Borivali, 10,095 voters pressed the NOTA button. In Malabar Hill, where BJP's Mangalprabhat Lodha won for the third time, recorded 5,392 NOTA votes.
The same trend was seen in Worli, Latur rural and Palus-Kandegaon seats. In Latur, ex-Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's son Dhiraj Deshmukh received 67.59 per cent of the votes without much competition. Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi's Manchakrao Done has got 6.47 per cent of the votes as compared to 13.85 per cent NOTA ones. In Palus, Vishwajeet, son of Patangrao Kadam won the election with 83.04 per cent votes. The next candidate received just 4.35 per cent votes while 9.99 per cent voters (20,631) chose NOTA.
A couple of other reasons also contributed to the increase in the number of NOTA votes. In Palghar and Vasai region many villages chose to ban the election due to their long-pending demands. Palghar, Vikramgad and Boisar have recorded 7,135, 8,495 and 4,622 NOTA votes respectively. Even the number of voters who pressed the NOTA option across the state was more than the votes smaller parties got.
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