In Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, NOTA is the runner-up with over 200,000 votes

The Congress had asked people to vote NOTA after its candidate from the Indore Lok Sabha seat, Akshya Kanti Bam backed out and joined BJP

Published on: Jun 4, 2024, 14:43:08 IST

By Shruti Tomar

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

BHOPAL: NOTA, or the none of the above, has secured 202,212 votes in the Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, next only to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Shankar Lalwani who has secured 11,60,627 votes.

An electoral officer opens an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) to display the number of votes at a counting center for the Lok Sabha Election on June 4 (HT Photo/Parveen Kumar)

The Congress had asked people to vote NOTA after its candidate from the Indore Lok Sabha seat, Akshya Kanti Bam, went to the Indore district collector’s office along with BJP minister Kailash Vijayvargiya and lawmaker Ramesh Mendola, on April 29 and withdrew his nomination. Bam later joined the BJP, which repeated its sitting MP Shankar Lalwani, 62.

Rather than supporting any of the candidates who were still in the fray, the Madhya Pradesh Congress decided to campaign for NOTA.

NOTA gives voters an option to reject all candidates in a constituency.

News agency PTI said the Gopalganj Lok Sabha seat in Bihar recorded the maximum NOTA votes at 51,660, about 5 per cent of the total votes polled in the constituency.

Congress state president Jitu Patwari thanked people for supporting NOTA, saying people have given a befitting response to the BJP, which used money and people to subvert democracy.

According to Election Commission data, Shankar Lalwani has received 78.99% of the votes polled compared to NOTA’s 13.62% share. Bahujan Samaj Party’s Sanjay received 49,277, the third-highest votes (3.29%).

Indore voted on May 13 and saw 61.75% of the 25.27 lakh electors exercising their franchise.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

Check India news real-time updates, latest news on Hindustan Times and more across India.