NOTA pushed smaller parties to lose deposit

In the eight Assembly constituencies in Tiruvannamalai district, a total of 12,331 NOTA votes were polled in addition to another 108 from postal ballots. Of the 122 candidates, who contested from the 8 constituencies, other than those from major parties, 106 candidates, including those fielded by AMMK, Bahujan Samaj Party, Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) and Makkal Needehi Maiyam (MNM) lost their deposits. The exception was Cheyyar constituency where of the 15 in the fray, DMK, AIADMK, NTK and MNM and NOTA occupied the first five positions while the remaining seven lost their deposits.

In Vellore district’s five constituencies, where a total of 70 candidates contested, other than the DMK and AIADMK candidates, the remaining 60, including 15 in Vellore, 13 in Katpadi, 11 in Anaicut, 13 in Gudiyattam and 8 in KV Kuppam constituencies, lost their deposits.

The AMMK in Vellore, AMMK and IJK both in Anaicut and Katpadi constituencies, IJK and DMDK in KV Kuppam seat and IJK in Gudiyattam scored less than NOTA– totaling 8,628 in the 5 constituencies.