Congress-backed NOTA takes on BJP in Indore. Will voters take note?

People in Indore are queueing up to vote in the Lok Sabha election on Monday, and they have been made a unique request by the Congress -- please vote for NOTA (none of the above). Why is the Congress seeking votes for NOTA and what does it even stand to achieve?

The Congress began the unprecedented campaign seeking votes for NOTA after its candidate, Akshay Kanti Bam, withdrew his nomination from the Lok Sabha elections at the last moment (on April 29), giving no time to a stunned party to field an alternative candidate.Â

The Congress took the matter to the Madhya Pradesh High Court but its plea to field another candidate was rejected.

The party faced a similar situation in Surat, Gujarat, where the BJP got a walkover.

However, the contest in Indore was on, and the candidate-less Congress is fighting to "save democracy" and for "moral victory".

One thing should be clear, NOTA isn't a right to reject yet. According to the current rules, if NOTA gets the highest number of votes in a constituency, the candidate with the second-highest votes is declared the winner.

So, even if NOTA manages to beat the BJP candidate, Shankar Lalwani, in Indore, the latter would go on to become the Lok Sabha MP.Â

However, the Congress, according to its leaders has plunged into this battle for a symbolic victory.  Â

BJP's Lalwani is the sitting MP from Indore, winning the seat by a margin of 5.4 lakh votes in 2019.

But the Congress is not ready to give in without a fight.

Congress workers went on a door-to-door campaign and asked people to vote for NOTA. Party workers carried out silent marches and even put up posters on walls and auto-rickshaws, campaigning for NOTA.

Madhya Pradesh Congress leaders called the BJP a party of "thieves" and requested people of Indore to vote for NOTA to teach the party a lesson.Â

"The BJP has done a politically unnatural deed in Indore. It has affected Indore. This is an example of 'democracy in danger'. They have kidnapped and threatened candidates in four cities. Who has done this crime? People don't have the right to choose," said Madhya Pradesh Congress chief, Jitu Patwari, according to PTI.Â

"I appeal to all the intellectuals of Indore to teach the thieves a lesson and press the NOTA button," said Congress leader Sajjan Singh Verma on X.

Concerns regarding the last-minute U-turn by the Congress candidate have also been raised from within the BJP.

"I was surprised, unable to understand till now why it happened. In my 35 years of electoral politics in Indore, never has such an incident happened", Sumitra Mahajan, who won the Indore seat eight times on a BJP ticket, told the New Indian Express.

However, BJP leaders have called the Congress's campaign for NOTA an attempt at "weakening democracy".

"In democracy, instigating people to press the NOTA button is a crime. The Congress leadership wants to weaken democracy," said the state BJP chief VD Sharma.

The NOTA battle hotted up just before voting and a BJP leader was seen physically removing the Congress posters.

A video on social media showed BJP Councillor Sandhya Yadav removing a Congress poster seeking votes for NOTA. The Congress filed a complaint against Sandhya Yadav.

Yadav said she would continue removing the NOTA posters as she was a "conscientious citizen".

But how are the voters of Indore responding to this electoral battle of BJP vs Congress-backed NOTA?

There were multiple posts on X, saying, "I voted for NOTA," accompanied by photos of inked fingers. Â

"I am a Ram bhakt and BJP supporter but what happened is not going down well with people. I don't know how many votes will be polled on NOTA, but there should have been a fair election in Indore," Vishal Prajapati, a tea vendor from Indore told The Hindu.

The NOTA campaign has grabbed attention in Indore, but it will be clear later how many people went to the polling booth to vote for NOTA. Â

Even if the Congress is able to convince a majority of the people of Indore to press NOTA, the candidate coming second will still win.

"The candidate with the second-highest votes after NOTA will still win," said the former Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat. Even if 99 votes go to NOTA, one to a candidate, "still the candidate, and not NOTA, will be declared the winner," he said.

The NOTA campaign is aimed at a symbolic fight for a "moral victory" by the Congress, which has been outsmarted in shrewd electoral politics in Indore.

A post on X by an Indore voter after casting her vote. (Image: ShilpiSinghINC)

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