Nagrota, Nov 14: In a notable outcome from the Nagrota Assembly by-election, NOTA (None of the Above) secured 349 votes, placing it ahead of five candidates in the final results, including nominees from recognised political parties.
The candidates who finished behind NOTA include Qari Zaheer Abbas Bhatti of the All India Forward Bloc, Gulzar Hussain and Shah Mohd who contested as independents, Joginder Singh of the Aam Aadmi Party, and Naresh Kumar Chib of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (Bhim faction). Each of them polled fewer votes than the NOTA option, indicating a clear preference among a segment of voters to reject the available choices.
While the contest at the top was decisively won by BJP’s Devyani Rana with a margin of 24,647 votes, the lower rungs of the candidate list saw a rare trend where NOTA performed more strongly than five individual contestants.
The outcome echoes voter dissatisfaction with certain candidates and highlights the growing visibility of the NOTA option in competitive elections. [KNT]
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