In 2015, about 950,000 votes were recorded for NOTA in 243 assembly seats. There were 19 assembly seats where the share of NOTA was more than the winning margin of the candidates. Out of these 19 seats, the BJP won seven seats, JD U six, RJD four, and the Congress and CPI(ML) won one each. Political circumstances are different this time, but NOTA could pose a problem.
Apart from these 19 seats, there were 35 seats where NOTA had the third largest share. In the Warisnagar assembly constituency, NOTA secured around six per cent of the total polled votes.
The trend was visible during the 2019 Lok Sabha election too, with Bihar recording the highest number of votes for NOTA. Out of the 40 seats in Bihar, 27 had more than 10,000 votes apiece for NOTA. On 18 seats the count was more than 20,000 votes and on eight seats it was more than 30,000 votes. Gopalganj recorded the highest 51,660 NOTA votes, meaning that every 20th voter in the constituency voted for NOTA.
“NOTA is always a reflection on the performance of the government,” senior RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari told ET. “There are a lot of issues like unemployment and poverty, which have made the people angry with the Nitish Kumar government and they don’t want to side with him. Even during the lockdown, the government claims to have offered jobs to so many people under MGNREGA. But in reality no one has got more than one or two days of jobs.”The Congress has specially instructed its state unit to focus on the region which saw a large number of NOTA votes during the assembly as well as Lok Sabha elections. The party believes these voters don’t want the BJP or the JDU, especially Nitish Kumar as an option for the CM.
However, the ruling JDU does not consider NOTA a factor. in the election. “There must be some local issues in certain pockets where some people may have opted for NOTA. But it’s not a general trend in Bihar,” state minister Sanjay Jha told ET. “In Bihar people will go to vote with a clarity of choosing Nitish Kumar. People know that if they can expect something to be done, it is only Nitish Kumar who can do it.”