In the recently held polls in Uttar Pradesh , according to an analysis report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), 85 winning candidates won with 50 per cent votes and above of the total votes polled in their constituency while 149 winners won with less than 50 per cent of the total votes.
On the other hand, nearly 25 per cent of 205 winners with declared criminal cases have won with a vote share of 50 per cent and above and 28 per cent of the 366 crorepati winners have won with a vote share of 50 per cent and above.
This goes on to prove that money and muscle power still dominate elections in UP.
The ADR report shows that 15 winners have won with a margin of victory of less than 1,000 votes while 8 winners have won with more than 40 per cent of margin of victory.
Seventy-eight candidates out of 205 winners with declared criminal cases have won against a runner up with a clean background.
Among these 78 winners, three have won with more than 30 per cent margin of victory.
Of the 49 winners, seven have have won with more than 30 per cent margin of victory. Among these, Atul Garg (BJP) from Ghaziabad constituency won with 43 per cent margin of victory.
As far as the performance of women candidates goes, there are 47 winners out of the 403 seats.
Five women winners have won with more than 20 per cent margin of victory.
Among the women winners, Anjula Singh Mahaur (BJP) from Hathras constituency has won with the highest vote share of 59 per cent in her constituency and 38 per cent margin of victory.
The NOTA button, instated by the ECI in 2013, gave the voters an option of rejecting all the candidates in their constituency.
Of the 9,21,62,896 votes polled in the recently concluded Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, 6,37,304 (0.69 per cent) were polled for NOTA.