NOTA spoils poll equations of political parties

Raipur, December 10

The Election Commission’s move to include none of the above (NOTA) option in EVMs in recently held assembly polls in five states on Supreme Court’s directives proved to be frustrating for political parties as the voters who exercised their Right to Rejection changed poll equations in several seats. The effect of NOTA was more discernible in Chhattisgarh where the magical option secured third position in 34 out of 90 seats and fourth spot in about 33 seats.

The power of NOTA was so strong in the State that the traditional voters of national parties like Bahujan Samaj Party, Nationalist Congress Party, Community Party of India and regional parties like Chhattisgarh Swabhiman Manch and Gondwana Gantantra Party either shifted their loyalty towards mainstream parties – BJP and Congress or opted to reject all contestants in the fray. In some seats, the BJP and Congress too felt the heat of NOTA as the victory margin of their candidates shrunk.

Hearing a petition, the apex court had ordered the EC to empower the voters by giving them Right to Rejection during polls. However, the SC had rejected the plea to cancel polls in case NOTA getting majority votes. When the EC announced to add NOTA button in EVMs for the first time in recent assembly polls in five states, the response from political parties was cold while there was glitter in the eyes of voters.

The political analysts termed NOTA inclusion as beginning of new era in Indian democracy where voters were being equipped with a significant tool to reject all. They said NOTA would also put pressure on political parties to field clean-imaged candidates.

The vote share of BJP, Congress and BSP in Chhattisgarh in 2013 polls was 41.04%, 40.29 and 4.27% as compared to NOTA’s 3.07%. More importantly, NOTA made its presence felt in all 90 constituencies.

Surprisingly, the tribal voters of Bastar and Sarguja divisions pressed NOTA button more than those in plains, an indicator that they do not want political parties to impose undeserving candidates on them.

Although it is said that Bastarians preferred NOTA under Maoists’ pressure, there is no concrete evidence about it except the rumours that the ultras had used dummy EVMs to train the tribal voters to press the newly added button.

The total NOTA votes in 12 constituencies of Bastar division was 78,186 with highest 10,848 in Chitrakot followed by 9677 in Dantewada and 8381 in Keshkal. The NOTA votes in remaining nine other constituencies too over 3000 with minimum 3469 exercised in Jagdalpur.

In Sarguja too, the NOTA button appealed 65,416 voters of 14 constituencies and the highest count was in samri, Sitapur and Pratappur constituencies with 6118, 5996 and 5814 votes respectively. Among the rest of 11 seats, Manendragarh recorded minimum 2421 NOTA votes.