Indore Sets New Record with Highest NOTA Votes in History

Indore has set a new national record by registering the highest-ever NOTA votes at 2,18,674 during the recent Lok Sabha elections. Despite BJP's Shankar Lalwani winning with a massive margin, all other candidates lost their security deposits. Historically, the NOTA option continues to symbolize voter dissatisfaction.

Indore has made history by logging the highest-ever NOTA votes in the country's electoral history at 2,18,674, surpassing the previous record held by Bihar's Gopalganj in 2019. Despite this notable protest vote, BJP candidate Shankar Lalwani won the Lok Sabha seat with an overwhelming margin of 11,75,092 votes.

Interestingly, all 13 candidates contending against Lalwani forfeited their security deposits, a clear sign of voter rejection. In electoral terms, this occurs when a candidate receives fewer than one-sixth of the total valid votes cast, leading to the forfeiture of their deposit as mandated by the Election Commission.

At a notable 16.28 percent of the total votes cast, the NOTA option reflected widespread voter dissatisfaction. Lalwani's closest opponent, Sanjay Solanki of the BSP, could only muster 51,659 votes. The support for NOTA was bolstered by a Congress call after their candidate, Akshay Kanti Bam, withdrew, forcing the party out of the race.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)