THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A promising debut in an assembly election and a quiet disappointment in the next. Then a Lok Sabha election arrived, and the comeback was stunning. This is not the story of any candidate but of NOTA, the ballot box’s silent verdict.
Introduced by the Election Commission in 2013, the None of the Above (NOTA) option has however been losing traction in Kerala assembly elections.
In 2016, as many as 1,07,245 voters — 0.53% of the total votes polled — pressed the ‘rejection’ button across the 140 constituencies in the state. By 2021, that number slipped to 97,693 — or 0.47% of total votes. But the 2024 Lok Sabha election told a different story altogether. NOTA surged 53% compared to the previous parliament poll, finding more takers in 19 of Kerala’s 20 constituencies. The sole exception was Vadakara, where a high-decibel contest between LDF’s K K Shailaja and UDF’s Shafi Parambil left little room for ambiguity.
More strikingly, NOTA finished fourth in 18 constituencies, right behind the candidates of the three major fronts.
Within the declining statewide trend of 2021, the numbers told varied stories across constituencies. Thalassery recorded the most emphatic rejection, 2,313 NOTA votes, up sharply from 514 in 2016. It was followed by Kalamassery (1,518), Chittur (1,285) and Manjeri (1,202).
At the other end, Koduvally saw the least rejection with just 269 NOTA votes. The bottom five were Poonjar (345), Tanur (336), Nadapuram (316), Kuttiadi (296) and Koduvally (269).
Even as the overall trend was downward, 46 constituencies bucked it, recording more NOTA votes in 2021 than in 2016. Thalassery was followed by Guruvayoor where the numbers rose from 605 to 1,007.
As Kerala heads to another assembly election, the question is whether NOTA would fade further into irrelevance, or would the Lok Sabha surprise be repeated.