In the last two Lok Sabha elections held in Chhattisgarh, NOTA stood third in 5 seats each. Tribal dominated Bastar and Kanker are such Lok Sabha seats, where NOTA has got the highest number of votes after BJP and Congress in both the elections. Similarly, NOTA has got the third rank in Rajnandgaon, Surguja, Mahasamund and Raigarh Lok Sabha also.
On September 27, 2013, the Supreme Court had directed to keep the option of NOTA (NONE OF THE ABOVE). After this, two Lok Sabha elections have been held, in which maximum number of people have pressed the NOTA button in the tribal dominated seat of Chhattisgarh.
This button is given last in the EVM but despite there being many independent candidates, after BJP and Congress, people preferred NOTA. What will happen if NOTA gets more votes than the candidates in the voting and who will be declared the winner? Let us understand from this report, but before that let us look at the important figures.
Seat wise rank of NOTA in Lok Sabha 2014
| lok sabha seat | NOTA got votes | rank of nota |
| Bastar | 38,772 | 3 |
| cancer | 31,917 | 3 |
| Rajnandgaon | 32,384 | 3 |
| Surguja | 31,104 | 3 |
| Raigarh | 28,480 | 3 |
| Janjgir-Champa | 18,438 | 4 |
| Durga | 11,907 | 6 |
| Mahasamund | 9955 | 7 |
| Age | 8570 | 8 |
| Bilaspur | 7566 | 8 |
| Raipur | 5796 | 8 |
Seat wise rank of NOTA in Lok Sabha 2019
| lok sabha seat | NOTA got votes | rank of nota |
| Bastar | 41,667 | 3 |
| cancer | 26,713 | 3 |
| Mahasamund | 21,241 | 3 |
| Rajnandgaon | 19,436 | 3 |
| Surguja | 29,265 | 3 |
| Age | 19,305 | 4 |
| Raigarh | 15,729 | 4 |
| Janjgir-Champa | 9,981 | 4 |
| Bilaspur | 4,365 | 8 |
| Raipur | 4,492 | 8 |
| Durga | 4,271 | 8 |
Why is NOTA voted for?
Along with political parties, independent candidates also contest elections. In such a situation, if the voter does not like any candidate then the option of none of them can be selected as NOTA. During counting of votes, along with the votes given to the candidates, the votes received in NOTA are also counted.
The political parties had to give a message that if candidates are fielded who influence the elections on the basis of money or muscle power, then the public may reject them in the form of NOTA. Instead of voting for them, voters can choose NOTA as an alternative.
Influence of Naxalites is the reason for NOTA getting more votes.
More voters have voted for NOTA in tribal dominated seats than in the plain areas of the state. In Bastar, Kanker, Surguja and Rajnandgaon, NOTA stood third after the candidates of BJP and Congress. Former State Election Commissioner Sushil Trivedi said that for the first time in 2013, when NOTA option came, NOTA got more than 3% votes.
At that time, Naxalites had issued an order in the Naxal affected area not to vote for anyone. In such a situation, NOTA was used more in Naxal affected areas, mainly in South Chhattisgarh. It was believed that the influence of Naxalites was the reason for NOTA getting the maximum votes, but as the elections went on, the percentage of NOTA decreased.
However, there are some tribal dominated areas also. Which is not affected by Naxal but still votes are being cast for NOTA there which is the voters’ own perception.
What if NOTA gets more votes?
Former State Election Commissioner Sushil Trivedi says that NOTA does not affect the election results. For example, if a total of 100 votes are cast on a seat and 99 of them are for NOTA and only 1 vote is given to a candidate, then that candidate will be considered the winner.
Apart from this, the remaining votes will be declared invalid. Similarly, even if there are equal number of votes in NOTA and the candidate getting the most votes, that candidate will still be declared the winner.
Demand has been raised to end NOTA option
Before the assembly elections held in the year 2023, the then Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had talked about eliminating the NOTA option from EVM machines. He had said that it has been seen many times when NOTA has got more votes than the margin of victory and defeat and in such a situation the Election Commission should take cognizance of it.
