49,235 voters rejected all parties, chose ‘none of the above’ option
There were 2,516 candidates in the fray during the Delhi municipal corporation elections 2017. but for more than 49,000 electorate, none of them were good enough to vote for.
As per the details provided by the Delhi State Election Commission, during the civic elections, 49,235 electorates voted for None of the Above (NOTA). The figure comprised of the 0.69% of the total ballots cast in Delhi.
This is the first municipal election when the NOTA option has been introduced in the voting machines.
“It is quite a big number and I am not happy with this percentage. I think it is a message for the political parties to choose right candidates in the elections so that people will vote for them,” said SK Srivastava, commissioner, DSEC.
Out of the total, 10,283 voters (.58%) used NOTA in East; 19, 637 voters in North (.74%) and 19, 169 (.72%) voters in South MCD.
“Though, there is no question of the elections getting cancelled in any ward even if the NOTA gets more votes that any other political party, I think it has the power to become a tool for people to make politicians focus on their most pressing demands,” said Suresh Goel, president of Federation of Vasant Vihar RWAs. According to him, it is a better option than not going out to caste vote.