BHOPAL: Sapaks party that tried to ride the wave of anti-reservation stir just before the assembly elections failed miserably to make any impact in its maiden election attempt. Rather None of the above (NOTA) scored better than the new entrant in the politics. Sapaks party did not win a single seat.
Voters in most of the constituencies preferred NOTA in comparison to Sapaks party that fielded 110 contestants on party ticket. Gwalior region that turned into epicenter of the anti-reservation stir too relied on NOTA option to show its resentment against the current dispensation but did not vote for Sapaks party. In Gwalior constituency NOTA garnered 1109 votes while Sapaks candidate could manage only 402 votes. Almost same status prevailed at other seats in Gwalior district.
Adjoining constituencies like Gotegaon too had the same impact where NOTA scored 3121 almost three times than Sapaks 914 votes. Similarly in Bhitarwar NOTA scored 1325 while Sapaks candidate could manage only 331 votes. Pandit Lakhan Shastri contested on Sapaks party ticket from Bamori and managed to get 562 votes while NOTA in his constituency attracted 1132 votes. Similarly Sarju Kol worked hard and contested from Bandhavgarh on Sapaks ticket but could garner only 2981 votes but here too NOTA was far ahead and scored 5037 votes almost double his value. There were only few exceptions like Ravindra Singh Raghuvanshi who contested from Basoda and got 2529 votes while NOTA remained behind with 1220.
Founder president of Sapaks party, Hiralal Trivedi said that his party contested to bring awareness on the issue and that he knew very well that his party would not win the assembly elections. Though he also admitted that he expected a much better response considering the reaction he got from the people in the beginning.
