The Panchayat elections in AP is around the corner. The last date for filing of nomination papers for the first phase ended. Though the election is based on non-party symbols, the parties are involved unofficially. Generally, the situation favours the ruling party in Panchayat elections. There are allegations that the candidates were stopped from filing nominations. The first phase elections will be held on February 9.
A new tension has gripped among the candidates in fray in the elections. The elections which will be taken up with ballot paper would also have NOTA. During the 2019 Panchayat elections and in GHMC elections in Telangana, NOTA was introduced. This has become a reason for the candidates for the tension.
In the 2018 elections in Mizoram, in one Assembly constituency, the result was a topic of discussion in the entire country. A candidate won with just three votes. The Mizoram National Front (MNF) candidate Lalchhandama Ralte won with a margin of just three votes from Tuivawl Constituency. Ralte got 5,207 votes… his nearest rival, Congress party’s RL Piyammaviki got 5,204 votes. The total votes in the constituency were 16,737 votes and an independent candidate got 58 votes whereas NOTA got 52 votes. This shows how crucial the votes polled to NOTA have become. The NOTA has affected the chances of some candidates in GHMC elections.
During the GHMC elections, in Banjara Hills Division, TRS candidate got 10,277 votes, BJP got 9,446 votes. The majority of the TRS candidate was 781 and NOTA was 805. In Macha Bollaram division the winning candidate’s majority was 34 and the votes polled to NOTA were 302. The dummy candidate got 39 votes leading to defeat of his mother. In Malkajgiri division, the BJP candidate lost with 172 votes. Around 245 votes were NOTA. In Vanasthalipuram BJP candidate won with a majority of 702 votes and NOTA received 269 votes.
Generally, in the Panchayat elections, the total voters will be around 5,000. Every vote in the election is likely to be crucial. The NOTA, invalid vote and not voting is likely to impact the victories of the candidates. In 2019 Panchayat elections in Telangana the voting percentage was 65 and NOTA votes were more than the majority of the candidates in 236 Panchayats. In the wake of political situations in AP, every vote is crucial.
