Voted NOTA? Over 42,000 voters in Jamshedpur did

Jamshedpur: Over 42,000 voters in Jamshedpur and Singhbhum (Reserved) parliamentary seats had opted for ‘None of the Above Option’ (NOTA) in the Lok Sabha polls. NOTA ranked fourth in Jamshedpur constituency and fifth in Singhbhum Lok Saba segment. Of the total 15,508 voters who pressed the NOTA button in Jamshedpur constituency, the contribution of the rural assembly segments Baharagora, Ghatsila, Potka and Jugsalai was around 83 per cent, according to the final results of the Jamshedpur constituency. [caption id=“attachment_1529471” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) had the NOTA option after the 15 candidates. Image used for representation purpose only. AFP[/caption] Rural voters in Baharagora assembly segment, which was represented by JMM’s Bidyut Baran Mahato, opted for NOTA in good number while Potka assembly segment, currently represented by Menka Sardar of BJP, recorded highest 3329 votes in favor of NOTA. As per the six assembly segments under Jamshedpur Parliamentary seat, Baharagora and Ghatsila polled 3219 votes each in favor of NOTA, 3329 votes in Potka assembly, 3089 votes in Jugsalai assembly constituency, 1449 votes in Jamshedpur (East) and 1318 votes in Jamshedpur (West). Introduced for the first time by the Election Commission, NOTA had a place in the EVM machine at the end after the list of 15 candidates representing various political parties including: Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), Bahujan Samaj Party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and BJP as well as Independent. Following the counting of votes, NOTA finished fourth after BJP, JVM and JMM. Similarly, NOTA, which secured total 27,037 votes in Singhbhum Lok Sabha constituency in the just-concluded Lok Sabha poll, finished fifth following the counting of votes. PTI