Growing NOTA trend expected in upcoming Telangana Assembly Polls

Hyderabad: The None of the Above (Nota) option, which saw a 47 per cent surge in 2018 compared to the 2014 Assembly elections, is expected to rise further, ironically on the back of increased awareness and a strong will.

Urban constituencies have exhibited historically low voter turnouts, particularly among the youths, but they now seem to be the primary demographic opting for Nota. In 2018, 2,24,709 voters chose Nota, surpassing the 1.52 lakh votes in 2014. Nota constituted 1.1 per cent of the approximately 2.05 crore votes cast.

As part of DC's 'Constituency Watch', several people that the reporters spoke to have said they might consider opting for the Nota option, most of who were youngsters and first-time voters.

Nota is the best way for a voter can express dissatisfaction against all the candidates, said Vaibhav Kirit B., a 21-year-old first-time voter from Kompally.

Abishna Koppolu, another young voter, said that she had been eagerly looking forward to casting her vote this year but was disappointed by the candidates, finding the party of one candidate problematic and the candidate of another party having at least two serious cases. “So I've not much of a choice," she explained.

Praveen Goud, a budding actor, said the display of character, tact, history and profile of all the people contesting in his constituency forces him to choose the Nota option. "I heard about people boycotting the polls as a response to such a situation, but when an NGO spoke at our college about how Nota helps subtract the number from the total votes of the candidates, I thought it was the better way to deal with such a case, as a responsible situation," Kirit told Deccan Chronicle. He said he also learned how it helpsacts as a deterrent against proxy voting, if he doesn't turn up to vote.