The six national parties bagged over 63 per cent share of the total valid votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections held this year. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and National People's Party (NPP) are the six national parties. Besides the six recognised national parties, 47 recognised state parties and 690 registered, unrecognised political parties contested the parliamentary polls, according to statistical data issued by the Election Commission (EC) on Thursday. According to the data, 3,921 independent candidates contested but only seven of them were elected. Besides, 3,905 independent candidates forfeited the deposits. Their vote share stood at 2.79 per cent of the total valid votes. Out of the 3,921 independent candidates, 279 were women, the EC noted. The none of the above (NOTA) option got 63,71,839 or 0.99 per cent votes in 2024 compared to 1.06 per cent in 2019. Over 9