LS Polls: Political parties raise questions over NOTA

NOTA was introduced in India to strengthen the election process and to allow voters to express their dissent against the candidates. But experts believe that, NOTA has little electoral value. Most of the political parties are not in favour of NOTA. The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) considers NOTA as a spoiler.

Lucknow: The None of the Above (NOTA) option which was introduced for the first time in 2014 Lok Sabha election, garnered 60 lakh of country's vote. Uttar Pradesh, due to its sheer size, stood top in the Nota tally with nearly 6 lakh votes. NOTA was introduced in India to strengthen the election process and to allow voters to express their dissent against the candidates. But experts believe that, NOTA has little electoral value.

Lucknow University, former HOD of Political Science S K Dwivedi said," The purpose with which NOTA was initiated is yet not fulfilled. There is no fixed percentage in the country's electoral system, which leads to the winning of the party which has the majority of votes. The voting in favour of Nota is not counted thus the candidate who gets 20% votes is also declared as the winner. There is a need that the Election Commission should reconsider changes in the voting system."

Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesperson Dr. Sameer Singh said, "NOTA was introduced by Election Commission to allow voters to express their views. If political parties work with the consent of public and fulfill their demands, then definitely there will be no use of the system. However, the usage of NOTA will be low in the upcoming general elections, as the state and the central government has worked for the welfare of society."

Uttar Pradesh's Additional Chief Election Officer Brahmadev Ram Tiwari said, " When a large number of voters will press NOTA button, it will force political parties to choose better candidates. NOTA boosts up the faith in democracy. The voters must have the right to reject."

The Uttar Pradesh performance in 2014 was undoubtedly the biggest surprise of these elections. The number of voters who pressed the NOTA button in the electronic voting machine was an indicator of the lack of faith in the political parties and their candidates.

If we look in more details the option of NOTA has been used effectively.

First phase of voting for 8 seats

• Meerut - 5,213
• Baghpat - 3,911
• Ghaziabad - 6,205
• Gautam Buddha Nagar - 3,836
• Saharanpur - 6,277
• Muzaffarnagar- 4,739
• Kairana - 3,903
• Bijnor - 5,775

Second phase of voting for 8 seats

• Nagina - 6,470
• Amroha - 7,779
• Bulandshahr - 6,915
• Aligarh - 6,183
• Hathras - 5,669
• Mathura - 1,953
• Agra - 5,191
• Fatehpur Sikri- 2,777

Third phase of voting for 10 seats

• Moradabad - 5,207
• Rampur - 6,905
• Sambhal - 7,658
• Firozabad - 4,654
• Mainpuri- 6,323
• Etah- 6,201
• Budaun- 6286
• Aonla - 10,496
• Bareilly - 6,737
• Pilibhit - 11,521

Fourth phase of voting for 13 seats

• Shahjahanpur - 9,964
• Lakhimpur Kheri- 12,031
• Hardoi - 7,660
• Misrikh Neemsar - 9,633
• Unnao - 4,626
• Farrukhabad- 1,986
• Etawah- 6,165
• Kannauj- 7,380
• Kanpur - 2,278
• Akbarpur- 3,948
• Jalaun - 10,291
• Jhansi - 13,959
• Hamirpur - 10,449

Fifth phase of voting for 14 seats

• Dharhara- 8,138
• Sitapur - 12,682
• Mohanlalganj - 4,708
• Lucknow - 4,696
• Amethi - 1,784
• Fatehpur - 11607
• Rae Bareli - 5,409
• Banda - 13,824
• Kaushambi- 15,169
• Barabanki - 8,726
• Faizabad - 11,537
• Bahraich - 13,498
• Kesarganj - 93,579
• Gonda-7,988

Sixth phase of voting for 14 seats

• Sultanpur - 5,412
• Pratapgarh - 9,098
• Phulpur 8,424
• Allahabad - 3,624
• Ambedkar Nagar- 742
• Shravasti - 14,587
• Domariaganj- 6,776
• Basti - 10,168
• Sant Kabir Nagar - 4,747
• Lalganj- 7,713
• Azamgarh - 5,660
• Jaunpur - 2,595
• Machhali Shahar - 8,448
• Bhadohi - 8,969

Seventh phase of voting for 13 seats

• Maharajganj - 4,545
• Gorakhpur - 1,153
• Kushinagar - 10,102
• Deoria - 12,405
• Bansgaon- 13,495
• Ghosi - 4457
• Salempur - 8322
• Ballia- 6,670
• Ghazipur - 5,611
• Chandauli- 3,186
• Varanasi - 2,051
• Mirzapur - 4,539
• Robertsganj- 18,489

Most of the political parties are not in the favour of NOTA. The majority of elite people may have chosen the option of NOTA more than any other group during 2014 Lok Sabha election. The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) considers NOTA as a spoiler. Akhil Bhartiya Vidayarthi Sangh (ABVP), which is associated with BJP has launched a campaign to protest against NOTA. So far, a small number of Indian voters have come to see NOTA as thier 'right to reject'. This electoral option will become a meaningful means for the voters to express resentment in the upcoming polls.