MCD elections: 49,235 voters opt for NOTA

According to the final tally, as many as 49,235 NOTA votes were polled.

New Delhi, April 27: Over 49,000 voters opted for the None of The Above option in the municipal elections, with people in North Delhi areas exercising it the most.

"It is interesting to note the NOTA figure in the polls, which constitute about 0.69 per cent of the total votes. Its count is maximum in North Delhi, which means voters have not liked candidates in that area," Delhi State Election Commissioner S K Srivastava told reporters on Wednesday.

According to the final tally, as many as 49,235 NOTA votes were polled. In SDMC areas, the NOTA count was 19,190 (0.71 per cent of the total votes), while in NDMC and EDMC areas, the figure stood at 19,762 (0.74) and 10,283 (0.58), respectively.

The option of NOTA was used for the first time in the civic polls, in which 71,39,994 votes were cast on April 23. South Delhi polled a maximum of 26,87,685 votes, followed by North Delhi at 26,80,011. East Delhi polled 17,72,298 votes.

The BJP scored a hat-trick in the Delhi civic polls as it comfortably retained control of the three municipal corporations, dealing a severe blow to the AAP and dashing the Congress's hope of a revival.

Winning 181 out of 270 wards where elections were held, the saffron party added muscle to its decade-long domination of the corporations effortlessly bucking anti-incumbency by riding on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The BJP's corporation-wise tally is: SDMC --- 70, NDMC -- 64 and EDMC -- 47 as against the AAP's tally of 16, 21 and 11, respectively. The Congress finished last with 12, 15 and 3 wards.

PTI