The Indore parliamentary constituency in Madhya Pradesh witnessed an unusual contest in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Around 93% of 15 lakh votes went to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Shankar Lalwani and the NOTA, or 'none of the above'.
While Mr Lalwani secured a second consecutive term from the key seat by bagging 12,26,751 votes, second on the list of most votes wasn't another candidate but the NOTA (2,18,674) option. Bahujan Samaj Party's Sanjay came third with 51,659 votes.
NOTA, introduced over a decade ago, gives the voter the option to express displeasure with candidates in a particular seat.
A major reason behind this outcome is the Congress party asking its supporters to vote for the NOTA after its nominated candidate -- Akshay Kanti Bam -- withdrew from the contest at the last minute and joined the ruling BJP.
Mr Bam withdrew his nomination on April 29 -- the last date for the withdrawal of nominations.
The Indore seat has been a bastion of the BJP since 1989. Before Shankar Lalwani, the constituency was represented by Sumitra Mahajan for a record eight consecutive terms. Mahajan was the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2014 to 2019.
Earlier, while speaking to news agency PTI, Ms Mahajan expressed her displeasure at Bam dropping out of the race at the last minute. “I was surprised to know about the withdrawal of the nomination of the main opposition party candidate in Indore... This should not have happened. There was no need for this development as it was written on the wall that nobody can defeat the BJP in Indore," she said.
Indore, one of 29 parliamentary constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, voted for the 2024 general elections on May 13 in the fourth phase. The seat registered a total voter turnout of 61.67%.
As per the latest update by the Election Commission, the BJP has won nine of 29 seats in the state and is leading in all the other constituencies.
During the 2019 polls, Shankar Lalwani had registered a win from the Indore seat by a margin of 5.47 lakh votes.