The number of NOTA (none of the above) votes in the State has gone up to over 7 lakh in 2019, as against over 4 lakh such votes in 2014. The highest number came from Latur Rural, where 27,500 residents chose the option in the polls.
Dhiraj Deshmukh of the Congress won against Sachin Deshmukh of the Shiv Sena by a margin of 1,21,482 votes in the constituency. In 2014, the seat had also gone to the Congress, with Trimbakrao Bhise winning with a margin of 10,510.
Latur Rural was followed by Palus Kadegaon in western Maharashtra, where 20,631 NOTA votes were cast. Here too, Congress candidate Vishwajeet Kadam won against Sanjay Vibhute from the Sena by a margin of 1,62,521 votes. In 2014, Dr. Kadam Shripatrao from the Congress won win a margin of 24,034.
Panvel also saw 12,399 NOTA votes, where Prashant Thakur from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won against Haresh Keni from the Peasants and Workers Party of India by a margin of 92,730 votes. In 2014, Mr. Thakur won with a margin of 13,215. Residents of Kharghar, which comes under the Panvel constituency, have expressed anger over the water crisis and poor condition of roads. Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed residents at a ground at Kharghar, and described the Kharghar-Panvel belt as a ‘mini India’.
Jogeshwari East saw 12,031 NOTA votes, while Borivali saw 10,095 such votes. In Jogeshwari East, Ravindra Waikar from the Sena won against Sunil Kumre from the Congress with a margin of 58,787 and in Borivali, Sunil Rane from the BJP won against Kumar Khilare of the Congress with a margin of 95,021. In Palghar, there were 7,135 NOTA votes. Shrinivas Vanga from the Sena won against Yogesh Nam of the Congress by a margin of 40,305 votes. In Thane, where there were 5,547 NOTA votes, Sanjay Kelkar from the BJP won for the second time against Avinash Jadhav from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. The Worli constituency, where the Sena’s Aaditya Thackeray won, also saw 6,305 NOTA votes, while Malabar Hill saw 5,392 such votes.
