NOTA: A debutant In The 2014 Lok Sabha Elections

NOTA: A Débutant In The 2014 Lok Sabha Elections

NOTA stands for none-of-the-above and it has been used for the first time in this Lok Sabha elections. The highest number of NOTA votes were in the Nilgiris. A total of 46,559 persons beat the score of the regions such as Nabarangpur in Odisha and Bastar in Chhatisgarh. Around 44, 405 votes were in favour of NOTA in Nabarangpur whereas 38,772 persons in Bastar also chose this option. Bansawara in Rajasthan was also high on NOTA votes-around 32,384 persons opted for NOTA here. Dahod in Gujarat also had its huge share of NOTA voters (32,305).

However, NOTA failed to attract voters in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. The constituency with the least number of NOTA votes was the Lakshadweep (123 persons). NOTA gained a countrywide share of 1.1% in the LS polls, more than the vote share garnered by certain parties. Around 543 persons pressed the NOTA button on the EVM across India. Uttar Pradesh led the NOTA tally when it came to the total number of votes made in absolute terms. Puducherry was also high on NOTA votes with around 3% of its voters chosing to reject the candidates available for the election.

UP polled the highest number of NOTA votes totalling to 5.92 lakh shares or just 0.7% of the vote share. Around 19 of the 80 seats in UP recorded 10,000 NOTA votes. 31 out of 39 constituencies in Tamil Nadu polled NOTA votes as did 23 out of 26 in Gujarat. 32 out of 42 constituencies in West Bengal and 16 of 25 on Rajasthan also recorded NOTA votes above 10,000. 12 of 21 constituencies in Odisha and 15 of 40 seats in Bihar also had more than 10,000 people choosing to go in for NOTA.

The largest number of NOTA votes were in Robertsganj in the eastern area of Uttar Pradesh. Around 18,489 botes here chose NOTA. Voting is a matter of exercising one's constitutional rights and responsibilities. But if voters are faced with candidates or parties that they just cannot support, NOTA is far better option rather than not voting. Significant efforts were made by the Election Commission and campaigners to get people to vote this year.

NOTA had been publicised in TV and print ads as well as promotional programmes so that people could become aware that they had an option even if they did not want to vote for the candidates in their area. Negative voting is prevalent in 13 countries across the world. In India too, MPs are given the option of abstaining from votes in the parliament.

NOTA is a safe option for those who do not want the burden of choosing candidates with criminal backgrounds. Those having strong convictions that politics should be a clean game can easily choose NOTA. Criminal background of certain politicians has always been a stumbling block when it comes to a healthy democracy.

While people vote for change, it remains the responsibility of the leading party as well as the opposition to see that the interests of the citizens are safeguarded and their objectives are met. A clear mandate means there is no scope for any inaction. Similarly, NOTA leaves no scope for inaction as far as the Indian voter is concerned. Options such as NOTA will make Indian politics cleaner by giving voters the chance to reject candidates they do not want to vote for.