The NOTA Story of Gujarat 2017 - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 19, 2017
The finer details of the Gujarat results reveal some fascinating trends. NOTA polled 1.8% votes in Gujarat, more than any other party in fray barring the BJP & Congress. In 30 constituencies of Gujarat, NOTA received more votes than the victory margin. After the dedicated NOTA symbol was introduced in 2015, the 1.8% votes to NOTA in Gujarat is the highest percentage of votes to NOTA after Bihar (2015) where NOTA polled 2.48%.
While the Gujarat Assembly elections of 2017 proved to be a close affair with BJP emerging victorious for the 6th consecutive time, the finer details reveal some fascinating trends. NOTA received a significant chunk of votes in Gujarat (1.8%), more than any other party in the fray barring the BJP & Congress. It resulted in the number of votes for NOTA being more than the victory margin in 30 seats.
Out of these 30 seats, 15 went to the BJP, 13 to the Congress and remaining 2 to the independents. BJP was in the 2nd place in both the places where independents had won. So in effect, both the BJP & Congress lost 15 seats each where NOTA polled more than the victory margin.
BJP won 15 of these seats
Out of the 15 seats won by the BJP where NOTA polled more than the victory margin, the difference in the NOTA votes and margin was more than 1000 in seven constituencies and less than 500 in the remaining eight. This difference was greatest in Godhra where the victory margin was a mere 158 votes while NOTA polled 3050 votes. In Dholka as well, the victory margin was only 327 while NOTA polled 2347.
Congress won 13 of these seats & Independents won 2
Out of the 13 seats won by the Congress where NOTA polled more than the victory margin, the difference in the NOTA votes and margin was more than 1000 in nine constituencies and less than 100 in the remaining four. The difference was less than 1000 in both the seats won by independents. This difference was greatest in Chhota Udaipur where the victory margin was a mere 1093 votes while NOTA polled 5870 votes. In Kaprada, the victory margin was only 170 while NOTA polled 3868. In Jetpur, the victory margin was 3052 while NOTA polled 6155.
Gujarat 2nd only to Bihar in percentage of votes for NOTA
Elections took place in thirteen(13) States/UTs after the dedicated NOTA symbol was introduced in 2015. The symbol for NOTA was first introduced in the Bihar assembly elections in 2015 and NOTA received 2.48% of the votes in that election. After Bihar, it is the Gujarat assembly elections in 2017 where NOTA received 1.8% of the vote. In Gujarat, NOTA received more than 5000 votes in as many as 10 constituencies, more than 4000 votes in 28 constituencies and more than 3000 votes in almost half (87) of the constituencies. NOTA stood 3rd in terms of votes polled in more than 100 constituencies of Gujarat. On the other hand, NOTA polled only 0.9% votes in Himachal.