Raj elections: NOTA may impact defeat and victory of candidates

Jaipur: In view of the close contest between the BJP and Congress, the option of ‘NOTA’ in elections can spoil the equation of victory and defeat on many seats. However, NOTA votes are only counted and not included in any results. But the effect of NOTA impacted the results of the last Assembly polls. In 2018, 4 lakh 67,785 people had used ‘NOTA.’ This means that this 1.65 % vote went to the account of NOTA. The victory-defeat difference between BJP and Congress in the State was only 0.53 percent. Which was 1 lakh 89,899 votes.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, the difference of victory or defeat between BJP and Congress on a total of 13 seats was less than 1 percent. The margin of victory or defeat on a total of 23 seats was less than 2 percent. The victory-defeat margin was less than 3 percent on a total of 38 seats. It is expected that this time too, there will be tough contests on more than 40 seats in the Assembly elections. In such a situation, the votes cast for ‘NOTA’ may impact the equation.