Significant votes for NOTA in Jalpaiguri
Jalpaiguri: A large portion of the votes in the Jalpaiguri Lok Sabha Constituency fell to ‘None of the Above’ (NOTA), reflecting widespread distrust not only in mainstream political parties but also in Independent candidates. According to the statistics, NOTA secured the fourth position in terms of votes, surpassing various parties and Independent candidates.
After 15 rounds of vote counting, NOTA received 16,740 votes. Consequently, nine candidates from different parties and Independent groups garnered fewer votes than NOTA.
District administration statistics reveal that the highest number of NOTA votes were cast in the Mal Assembly area, with 3,393 votes. Additionally, in the remaining six assemblies of the Jalpaiguri Lok Sabha Constituency, more than 2,200 to 2,500 votes were cast for NOTA. The lowest number of NOTA votes were recorded in the Mekhliganj Assembly Constituency. In this constituency, out of 12 candidates, nine candidates received fewer votes than those cast for NOTA. Independent candidate Ranjit Burman received the fewest votes in the district, with 1,177 votes, followed by Adhirchandra Barman with 1,900 votes. Other candidates’ vote counts include — Vinod Mallik: 8,480 votes, Manvendra Roy: 2,887 votes, Ramprasad Mandal: 3,807 votes, Nirod Chandra Adhikari: 2,495 votes, Maheshwar Burman: 4,229 votes, Shilpa Roy Hakim: 9,851 votes, Hare Krishna Sarkar: 5,809 votes.Various political parties have stated that they will analyse the reasons behind the significant number of votes cast for NOTA now that the results have been revealed. Common opinion suggests that voters did not like the available candidates, leading them to choose NOTA.
Samar Majumdar, a resident of Jalpaiguri town, said: “The Election Commission has provided the option of NOTA on the ballot or EVM machine to express the opinion of common people. If voters do not like any candidate, they express their opinion through NOTA.”
Similarly, Amit Sarkar remarked that NOTA is a valuable option through which voters have expressed their dissatisfaction in this election.
