The polling percentage this year had been comparatively less than 2012
Nearly 2 per cent of voters in Gujarat chose to exercise the "NOTA" or "None Of the Above" option - the last button in an Electronic Voting Machine that helps on reject all the candidates in the fray. The percentage of voters was more than the votes received five of the seven parties contesting the assembly elections.
Introduced in India in 2013, NOTA allows voters to express their dis-satisfaction with the candidates while exercising their democratic rights. While the election gave a fith consecutive term to the BJP, which has been ruling the state for 22 years, it also established that a chunk of the voters were not happy with the candidates chosen to represent them.
The elections were seen as a referendum on the two key initiatives of the Narendra Modi government - last year's demonetization and the government's flagship Goods and Services tax, which was rolled out earlier this year. The Congress had alleged that a huge section of voters, especially small traders, were unhappy with both measures.
The polling percentage this year had been comparatively less than 2012 - dropping from the 71.3 per cent to 68.41 per cent in the elections that concluded on Thursday.