Mangaluru: A notable portion of the electorate chose the None of the Above (NOTA) option in the Lok Sabha elections for the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi-Chikmagalur constituencies. In Dakshina Kannada, out of 14,08,738 EVM votes, 23,576 voters (1.7%) opted for NOTA. The total votes, including postal ballots, amounted to 14,15,770. The NOTA campaign in Dakshina Kannada was promoted by the Sowjanya Nyayapara Horata Samiti, Rashtriya Hindu Jagaran Vedike, and Prajaprabhutva Vedike, demanding justice for Sowjanya, who was sexually assaulted and killed in 2012.
Interestingly, all candidates, except BJP’s Capt. Brijesh Chowta (winner) and Congress’s Padmaraj R Poojary, received fewer votes than NOTA. Candidates from the Bahujan Samaj Party, Karunada Sevakara Party, Uttama Prajaakeeya Party, Karnataka Rashtra Samithi, and several independents garnered less than 1% of the votes. Notably, Karnataka Rashtra Samithi candidate Ranjini M received only 776 votes, a 0.1% share. Among the 23,576 NOTA votes, 7,691 were cast in the Belthangady assembly segment.
The impact of NOTA was less pronounced in the Udupi-Chikmagalur constituency. Out of 12,22,939 EVM votes, 11,269 (0.9%) were recorded as NOTA. Apart from BJP’s Kota Shrinivas Poojari (winner) and Congress’s K Jayaprakash Hegde, all other candidates received fewer votes than NOTA. A total of 12,29,418 voters participated through EVM and postal ballots. Candidates from the Bahujan Samaj Party, Uttama Prajaakeeya Party, Proutist Sarva Samaj, Janahitha Paksha, Karunada Sevakara Party, Karnataka Rashtra Samithi, and independents were outvoted by NOTA.
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