J-K Assembly elections: Voters choose more NOTA over AAP and BSP candidates

During the Assembly elections in J&K, 63.88% of the electorate cast their votes. Among them, 1.48% of the total votes were for NOTA. While the AAP received 0.52 per cent and BSP got 0.96% of the votes

A significant number of voters in Jammu and Kashmir opted for the NOTA (None of the Above) choice rather than casting their ballots for candidates from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), recent data from the Election Commission reveals.

During the three-phase elections in J&K, 63.88 per cent of the electorate cast their votes. Among them, 84,397 voters opted for NOTA, which constituted 1.48 per cent of the total votes. In comparison, the AAP received 0.52 per cent of the votes, while the BSP got 0.96 per cent.

Despite its small vote share, the AAP won its first seat in Jammu and Kashmir, although it could not secure any seats in Haryana. Mehraj Malik, celebrated as the ‘star of the day’ by Arvind Kejriwal, triumphed in the Muslim-majority Doda constituency in Jammu by a margin of over 4,500 votes.

 

Introduced in 2013, the NOTA option on electronic voting machines features a ballot design with a black cross.

In terms of vote distribution among other parties, the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) received 0.02 per cent, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received 25.64 per cent, the CPI(M) got 0.59 per cent, and the Congress obtained 11.97 per cent.

The Janata Dal (United) received 0.13 per cent, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) secured 23.43 per cent, the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) received 0.13 per cent, and the Jammu and Kashmir National People's Independence Party (JKNPPI) got 1.16 per cent.

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) accounted for 8.87 per cent, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) received 0.03 per cent, the Rashtriya Lok Janata Party (RASLJP) got 0.02 per cent, Shiv Sena (UBT) received 0.05 per cent, and the Samajwadi Party got 0.14 per cent. Other parties combined for 24.83 per cent of the vote share.

The Assembly elections were dominated by the alliance of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) and the Congress, with the National Conference winning 42 seats and the Congress securing six. The BJP emerged victorious in 29 seats, while the PDP had a disappointing performance, winning only three seats. Additionally, the JKPC, CPI(M), and AAP each claimed one seat, with seven Independent candidates also achieving victory.