GUWAHATI, May 24 - The just-concluded Lok Sabha elections witnessed �NOTA� outscoring the number of votes polled by a large number of candidates in the constituencies of Assam. In many seats NOTA came in at number three position, just after the respective winner and runner-up candidates. Overall, across the 14 constituencies of Assam the vote share of NOTA stood at 0.99 per cent out of the total ballots cast.
There were 21,288 NOTA votes in Dibrugarh constituency. NOTA votes were third highest in number and outperformed 6 of the 8 candidates in the fray.
In Lakhimpur constituency, there were 15,220 NOTA votes. Here also NOTA came at third place and outperformed 9 of the 11 contestants for the seat.
NOTA secured the third rank in Silchar and Nagaon seats as well. There were 8,547 NOTA votes in Silchar and 10,757 in Nagaon.
NOTA�s vote tally was more than that of 11 out of the 14 candidates in Karimganj, 11 out of 13 in Silchar, 11 out of 15 in Dhubri, 4 out of 9 in Kokrajhar and 9 out of 13 contestants in Barpeta.
NOTA outscored 14 out of the 17 candidates in the Guwahati seat, 8 out of 11 in Mangaldoi, 5 out of 7 in Nagaon, 4 out of 7 in Tezpur, 4 out of 7 in Kaliabor, and 5 out of the 8 candidates in Jorhat.
Only in Autonomous District (Diphu) were the NOTA votes less than that what all the 5 contenders from the seat secured.
In addition, as many as 114 out of the total 145 Lok Sabha poll contestants from Assam had to forfeit their security deposits because of failure to secure a minimum of one-sixth of the total valid votes cast in their respective constituencies.
The number of contestants who forfeited their deposits was 12 out of the total 14 in Karimganj, 11 out of 13 in Silchar, 3 out of 5 in Diphu, 12 out of 15 in Dhubri, 6 out of 9 in Kokrajhar, and 10 out of the 13 candidates in Barpeta.
In Guwahati constituency as many as 15 out of 17 candidates forfeited deposits, while the numbers stood at 9 out of 11 in Mangaldoi, 5 out of 7 in Nagaon, 5 out of 7 in Tezpur, 5 out of 7 in Kaliabor, 6 out of 8 in Jorhat, 6 out of 8 in Dibrugarh, and 9 out of the 11 candidates in Lakhimpur.
The BJP, which won 9 out of the 10 seats it contested in Assam, achieved a strike rate of 90 per cent, while the Congress registered a strike rate of 21.4 per cent by winning 3 of the 14 seats it fought and the AIUDF had a success rate of 33.3 per cent as it emerged winner from one out of the three seats it contested.
