Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

As the proverb stands true: “The only thing we learn from new elections is that we learned nothing from the Old”, India is moving faster towards its biggest festival, of hopes and desires, of anxiety and anger.

Because this time of redemption visits only after five years in India. It is the time when the people’s leaders actually turn answerable and accountable that they continue to claim themselves to be.

With the upcoming respective assembly poles in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Punjab and Goa, the Model Code of Conduct got activated in these states with the announcement of election schedule back in Jan 2022.

Election in India is constitutionally a Candidate based system and not on the lines of parties like in the US but if we are to ask the legitimate voters of this country, candidates are barely looked upon for selection. Rather, an Indian citizen’s vote is seldom intended for parties of their liking.

While the people of these poling states might have already made up their minds for whom to vote. But are there people who find themselves stuck in this conundrum?

Well, it indeed demands deep thinking. A common man is only worth a vote for the Nation’s politicians, after all and this worth is only gained after five troubled years.

Look yourself, we have just faced the Pandemic for a brief of 2 years yet its impacts are astounding.

Case studies of troubled individuals and groups:

In between the UP elections, farmers in the Terai belt of Lakhimpur Kheri can no longer chose to abstain from voting, even when they are lurching between BJP and SP, the two prominent parties in UP and both have cheated them, reducing them to mere commodities (binding words).

“We have no hope from any political party”.

On the similar lines, several aggrieved pensioners under the Employees’ Pension (EPS-95) Coordination Committee (EPCC) have threatened to opt for NOTA:

“Since last 26 years, we are requesting the government to hike our pension as per the Koshyari panel report. We have sent thousands of letters and even staged agitations. About three lakh pensioners passed away in this period, but the government is not ready to listen to our plight.”

Taking this power to another level, a complete Village Aam Khark in Champawat, Uttarakhand has publicly chosen to push for NOTA because of the governance failure they have experienced:

“They forget us after the elections. In the absence of a road, villagers have to travel about 25 km to reach Tanakpur for minor medical assistance and around 5 km to reach Shyamalatal for schooling.”

But what shall we do when we feel disgraced by the disturbed past, not by the events but especially by things not done right? Shall we not vote? But isn’t that wasting one’s worth?

NOTA: Displaying discontent in Meaningful ways

Called by the names, “against all” or a “scratch” vote, NOTA or “None of the above” in Indian EVMs depict the choice of none from the given list of candidates put up by various political parties and demands a necessary change.

Following its fame abroad, the Election Commission of India in 2009 requested the Supreme Court of India to bring in NOTA, which the consecutive governments continued to oppose and various Civil Liberties demanding NGOs supported the call.

NOTA provision has been in place globally: Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Finland, France, Greece, Spain, Sweden, UK, Ukraine and certain states of the US.

Therefore, in 2013, SCI approved its use and introduced to increase participation of Indian population in voting and help study the political dynamics of India.

The Bench exclaimed: “If the right to vote is a statutory right, then the right to reject a candidate is a fundamental right of speech and expression under the Constitution”.

What happens with NOTA votes in India?

These votes get counted but are not considered as ‘valid votes’.

NOTA received 1.1% of the total votes from nearly 6,000,000 people.

In their own respective polls, 50,000 voters in Delhi opted for NOTA, 5.9 lakh in Madhya Pradesh, 3.56 lakh in Chhattisgarh and 5.67 lakh in Rajasthan.

If NOTA manages to snatch more votes than any of the contesting candidates, it means the electorate or voters to believe none of the representatives to be befitting for the role of leading them and hence, need a re-election as the contestants have been rejected to contest.

It extends the freedom to Indian Voter to not select from a list of underserving candidates and still leave an impression, that too, without violation of their secrecy.

Such rejection, as per the SCI, can lead to systemic changes in Indian political aura and force the political parties to forward clean candidates, without a background of Corruption and immorality.

Why NOTA cannot be considered a waste of Vote?

This choice of negative voting has been notoriously presented by Indian politicians: a waste of Vote that can never be decisive.

They say: “The young voters have their own choices and stances and they would never cast their votes in favor of NOTA.”

But as India follows First Past The Post (FPTP) i.e., a “plurality” voting system wherein the candidate with the highest number of votes in each constituency get to win, even voting for the runner-ups can be inherently called a waste of Vote?

NOTA’s polled figures remain small; they have barely managed to cross 2.02% of the total votes made in any election cycle.

NOTA: benefits v/s shortcomings

NOTA in India may have popularity yet apparently lacks enough teeth. There has been a long debate around what happens if NOTA votes are higher in numbers than votes to any candidate in the constituency.

Will there be re-election or just simply the candidate wins?

There is no definite clause in the NOTA rules regarding this issue, it entirely has been left to the discretion of Election Commission of India and States, in respective cases of National or local elections.

For example, in the local body elections of Haryana and Maharashtra (2018), the state election commissions decided to re-poll in concerned districts where NOTA garnered more votes than the candidates.

A village in Pune witnessed its 85 per cent voters favoring NOTA.

NOTA was made a candidate. But this got negated further, snatching all the powers given with a button called NOTA back in 2013.

It was stated that even when the NOTA received highest votes, the candidate with the maximum votes, irrespective of NOTA will win the election.

And this sort of vote splitting that comes with NOTA can at times, lead to the defeat of least-disliked candidate to a more-disliked opponent.

The matter has been for long in Court and is being scrutinized at best.

Even if we imagine NOTA to be implemented at best, nobody wins and public requests another set of candidates, this can lead to a number of problems: high administrative costs, subsequent delays may increase, Nation’s democratic legitimacy may dwindle, important offices may lie vacant and what not can follow.

The worst is here, as argued in the Apex Court: “Imagine a political party having influence over voters succeeding in convincing them to cast negative votes in constituencies. This would result in many seats in Parliament and assemblies going vacant and make it difficult for constitution of Houses. Moreover, a constituency would go o unrepresented for a long time”.

But Indian citizens, liable to vote, have discovered unusual power of dissent in this toothless tiger gifted to them, they find hope of a corruption less government that may eventually work for them and remain clean throughout their term because of this threat.

This makes them all feel the participants in democracy and not as mere spectators at bay or warriors on Social media. Their concern gets recorded after all.

And despite the issues, 2017 elections in Gujarat registered the winning margin between the first two candidates to be lower than the actual number of NOTA choices made, that too in 20 and more constituencies.

And hence, NOTA votes can carve an imprint on depressed humanity and election results.

Some Facts around NOTA Use:

The use of NOTA in India is still finding relevance but there has been a certain pattern developed of its use.

It has been observed firstly that the reserved constituencies more relatively use the larger number of NOTA votes, that can be indicative of the social prejudice prevailing in the country for SC/STs.

Similarly, the left-wing extremism (LWE) affected constituencies have recorded higher NOTA inclination, maybe as an instrument of protest against the State machinery itself and as per their inherent ideology.

Through NOTA the subjects of this country can at least stop choosing the candidates in fray in addition to expressing their respective protest against diverse things they consider wrong in the prevailing political system.

The country continues to be forayed by the impacts of climate change, yet no one talks of it or the rising unemployment, the budget constraints against earning livelihoods and consumer demands in comatose , unhealthy labor conditions etc. Can I dream to register my disagreement with the country’s or my constituency’s chaotic priorities?

They find courage to travel on an unconventional path, which may yield in future or may lie lifeless in vain.

By Alaina Ali Beg

I am a lover of all arts and therefore can dream myself in all places where the World takes me. I am an avid animal lover and firmly believes that Nature is the true sorcerer.

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