In Gujarat polls, NOTA down by 9%, higher in tribal, Dalit seats

The NOTA votes in all account for 1.6% of the total votes cast and is more than the vote share of several parties like the BSP (0.5%), Samajwadi Party (0.29%), AIMIM (0.29%) and Nationalist Congress Party (0.24%). In the 2017 polls, the NOTA votes had amounted to 1.84% of the total votes polled.

In the temple town of Somnath, where sitting Congress MLA Vimal Chudasma was re-elected by just 922 votes, the number of NOTA votes stood at 1,530.

The highest number of NOTA votes were cast in the ST-reserved Khedbrahma seat of north Gujarat, where Congress candidate Tushar Chaudhary beat the BJP candidate by 1,664 votes. The NOTA votes polled in this seat was 7,331. Chaudhary, former Union minister, was contesting from this seat for the first time. He is based in south Gujarat’s Vyara, a Christian tribal seat that was a Congress stronghold but the grand old party lost it to the BJP this time.

The BJP wrested from the Congress Rapar and the SC-reserved Dasada seats by 577 and 2179 votes, respectively, where the NOTA votes polled were 3,942 and 3,147.

Among the three constituencies that saw the maximum number of NOTA votes polled are included besides Khedbrahma, the ST-reserved Danta (5213 votes) in north Gujarat and the ST-reserved Chhota Udaipur (5,093 votes) seat in central Gujarat.

According to Tushar Chaudhary, the reason for a high percentage of the NOTA votes is the prevalence of “illiteracy” among the older tribals. Chaudhary told The Indian Express: “Generally, people get confused about the EVM buttons. It has been a problem for very long that the first and the last buttons of the EVM machines are pressed by more voters, who are either unaware or confused about using the machine. I have personally seen so many older tribals, especially women, just staring at the machine, confused in polling booths… So anyone who is listed on the first or the last buttons of the EVM list ends up getting about 5,000 votes (in this way)… This time the NOTA button was last on the list.”

The EVM machines used in this election had the BJP at number one button and the NOTA as the last button on its panel.

Downplaying the tribal voters’ NOTA choice, some BJP leaders call it their “lack of faith” in formal administration. Veteran tribal leader and BJP MP from Bharuch, Mansukh Vasava, says that many tribal communities believe in the “Satipati Sampraday”, which does not recognise government and its laws. Vasava says, “There are some tribal pockets in Gujarat, where the tribals are indeed apprehensive about choosing political parties because they feel no one addresses their issues but the entire chunk of NOTA votes is not disillusioned tribals. There are many tribal communities, especially in south Gujarat, who believe in Satipati Sampradaya and do not wish to exercise their franchise. Such areas will see large NOTA votes – especially Vyara, where the Satipati practice is dominant. Moreover, tribal voters are often confused about the machines and end up pressing options without much thought.”

In Vyara, where the BJP’s lone Christian candidate, Mohan Dedha Kokani, won by 22,120 votes by garnering 40.67% votes. The incumbent Congress MLA Punjaji Gamit, a Christian leader, finished third with 26.81% vote share behind the runner-up Aam Aadmi Party’s Bipinchandra Chaudhari, who got 27.75% votes. NOTA polled 3,779 votes. Gamit had been winning this seat on the Congress ticket since 2007. Now Kokani has become the lone Christian MLA in the Gujarat Assembly.

• The overall voter turnout in the Gujarat polls this time was 64.33% as against 69.01% recorded in 2017.
• NOTA votes dipped by 9% to 5,01,202 in this Gujarat election as compared to 5,51,594 votes in 2017 polls
• NOTA polled more votes than the victory margin in four seats
• The total NOTA votes account for 1.6% of total votes cast and is more than vote share of BSP (0.5%), SP (0.29%), AIMIM (0.29%) and NCP (0.24%)
• In 2017 polls, the NOTA votes amounted to 1.84% of the total votes polled
• The overall voter turnout in the Gujarat polls this time was 64.33% as against 69.01% in 2017