New Delhi: Deprived of a choice, with the Congress candidate withdrawing his nomination on the last day and joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) within hours, paving the way for a no-contest election, voters in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore have replied by recording the highest number of None of the Above (NOTA) votes polled in any Lok Sabha election.
A total of 2,18,674 NOTA votes have been recorded in Indore, making it the runner up in the election following the sitting BJP MP Shankar Lalwani who won the election with a total of 12,26,751 votes. According to a report by election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), over 1.29 crore NOTA votes have been recorded in the assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections combined in the last five years.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
The election in Indore was reduced to a non-contest after Akshay Kanti Bam, the Congress’s candidate for Madhya Pradesh’s Indore Lok Sabha constituency, withdrew his nomination and joined the BJP. The Wire has reported that three candidates, including two independents and one from the Janata Congress Party, alleged that “fake signatures” were obtained on withdrawal forms, while coercive and intimidating calls were made to make them not contest.
Bam’s withdrawal and move to the BJP came only days after the dramatic rejection of papers of the Congress candidate(s) in Gujarat’s Surat, leading to Mukesh Dalal being declared elected Lok Sabha MP unopposed, minus an election, as the first MP of the 18th Lok Sabha.
The Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist)’s candidate in Indore, Ajit Singh Panwar, who did contest also said to The Wire that he was pressured and pushed by the BJP to not contest.
The call to voters in Indore to choose the NOTA button was made by the Madhya Pradesh’s Congress president Jitu Patwari ahead of polling in the constituency on May 13.
In an interview to The Wire, Patwari alleged that the BJP had “murdered democracy” in Indore and deprived voters of the right to vote.
“Yes we were wrong in recognising a person (Akshay Bam). What circumstances arose is separate but a crime has been committed by the political mafia. We are pained by this and we should be. People are saying that democracy is in danger in the country. This is the reason this is said. 17 state governments have been made to collapse. From ED to Collector all are being used to change parties. People of the country are concerned about how democracy can be protected. And if anyone is responsible for this it is the BJP.”
Patwari said that with the NOTA button, the people of Indore can deliver a message to the country.
“This is a murder of democracy. I want the people of Indore to show their astitva (existence). Let them give a message to the people of the country that they are different. This will give a message and no ideology will be hurt. Even if people in the BJP want to deliver a message against this crime they should do so too. When Rajiv Gandhi was in power the Congress had 400 seats. What if he behaved like this? Now under Narendra Modi such crimes are happening day and night. So what remains of your right to vote? Those who are getting elected without getting your vote, why will they listen to you? Why will they go among the people? They never asked for your vote and you never voted for them,” he said.
In its first press conference since the Lok Sabha elections were announced, the Election Commission said on Monday, a day ahead of the results, that its hands were tied when asked about the elections in Surat and Indore.
“The legislative scheme is absolutely clear. If you want a fundamental conceptual answer, our effort is that there should be a contest everywhere. There is no doubt about that. But after nomination, if candidates withdraw what can we do? If they also are under pressure, if they have been kept shut somewhere that is a different matter. But if they withdraw on their own will, what can we do?” said chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar in response to a question.
The NOTA option was first made available to voters as a button on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in 2013 following a Supreme Court judgement in the same year that said that voters should have the right to come to the polling booth to decide to not vote for any of the candidates while still being able to exercise their right to vote.
The button was used for the first time in the 2013 assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Delhi, and then in the 2014 general elections.
Read all of The Wire’s reporting and analysis of the 2024 election results here.
