NOTA power hurting election candidates

The none of the above (NOTA) option in voting machines has started hurting poll contestants. In nearly 10 seats, where the difference between win and loss was less than 1,000 votes NOTA bagged more votes than the victory margin.

In the just concluded UP assembly elections, .09 % of total votes cast went to NOTA.

In Meerapur, Avatar Singh Bhadana defeated his nearest rival Liaqat Ali of the Samajwadi Party by just 173 votes. Here, the number of NOTA votes was 1090. Had Liaqat got these votes, he would have defeated Avatar Singh Bhadana.

Similarly in Shravasti, Ramferan of BJP defeated M Ramzan of Samajwadi Party by 445 votes. The number of NOTA votes was 4,289, which means NOTA votes were 10 times more than the victory margin of Ramferan.

In Mohammedabad Gohana, Shri Ram Sonkar of BJP defeated Rajendra Kumar of BSP by 538 votes. Here, the number of NOTA votes was 1,995.

In Rampur Maniharan Devendra Kumar Neem of BJP defeated Ravindra Kumar Molhu of BSP by 595 votes. Here, the number of NOTA votes was 856. In Mubarakpur, Shah Alam alias Guddu Jamali of BSP defeated Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party by 688 votes. The number of NOTA votes was 1,628.

In Duddhi, Hariram of Apna Dal defeated Vijay Singh of BSP by 1,083. Here, the number of NOTA votes was a whopping 8,522. In Mohanlalganj, Ambrish Pushkar of Samajwadi Party defeated Ram Bahadur of BSP by 530 votes. Here, the number of NOTA votes was 3,471.

IN 10 SEATS, WHERE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WIN AND LOSS WAS LESS THAN 1,000 VOTES NOTA BAGGED MORE VOTES THAN THE VICTORY MARGIN