In a country of 1.3 billion people, we are yet to find leaders who are genuinely interested in serving the masses. The people in power believe in enjoying their ‘power, perks and prestige ‘ wholeheartedly. Over the course of time, political scenarios have been overshadowed by money and muscle power.
Under such circumstances, NOTA (“None of the Above” ) comes to the voters’ rescue. NOTA empowers citizens by giving them the right to reject candidates. During the 2019 general elections, NOTA was used extensively by voters.
NOTA: Magical Numbers
- More than 33,000 voters opted for NOTA in 2019 in Shimla
- NOTA votes were crucial and ended up deciding the fate of candidates in 21 parliamentary constituencies across 11 states/Union Territories.
- Uttar Pradesh’s Machhlishahr constituency recorded the lowest victory margin. The BJP candidate defeated his BSP counterpart by a thin margin of 181 votes. NOTA votes within that constituency were 10,830.
- NOTA made its presence felt in Andhra Pradesh. NOTA votes polled in Guntur, Srikakulam, and Vijayawada were 6,006, 2,5545 and 8,911, respectively.
- The VCK overpowered the AIADMK by a margin of 3,219 votes in the Chidambaram constituency. Interestingly, Chidambaram recorded 15,535 NOTA votes.
Citing the aforementioned examples, it can be said that voters have understood the importance of NOTA.
NOTA can help immensely if the candidates within a constituency have criminal charges. Under such circumstances, voters can reject such controversial candidates. The media needs to play its part too. It can run prime-time stories in order to educate voters regarding the importance of NOTA.
The application of NOTA has been slow and gradual but it is finally making its presence felt. In my opinion, the rising number of NOTA votes across constituencies suggests that voters have become sensible. They want educated candidates to come into power.