This Assembly elections threw up a surprise when it came tou00a0 the option of no-vote or protest vote.

While approximately 850 people in Maharashtra had chosen the no-vote option in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, social organisations campaigning for the no-vote option said that the number was much larger this election.

AGNI member James John, who participated in the campaign and cast a no-vote said, "The exact number of no-votes is not available as of now, but we observed that a large number opted for it."
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Kalpesh Vora from the NGO Kranti Sanstha said, "When we ran a campaign for 100 per cent voting, we realised that people don't want to vote for anybody.
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PROTEST VOTE: Members of NGO Kranti Sanstha campaign for no-vote option.