Supreme court's recent verdict ordering the Election Commision of India to introduce NOTA(none of the above) option in EVMs is seen as a major step forward in the electoral reforms. There is a misunderstanding among the common people that introduction of NOTA gives them right to reject, which is not true. Even though NOTA recieves highest number of votes than any other candidate, there are no re-polls but the candidate with second highest number of votes is deemed as the winner. Though NOTA does not express the peoples' right to reject, it is a mandate from the people to the political parties to field right candidates in the elections.
During the present days where election expenditure by political parties is way above than that is allowed by the election commision, the introduction of NOTA pushes the political parties to field the right candidates. But a lot depends on the voters who are alleged to have accepted money from the political parties for supporting their candidates by casting their vote. People should not be carried away by this once in a five year term illegitimate incentive offered by the political parties. By providing NOTA, supreme court has bestowed upon a huge power in the hands of the voters and now it is the responsibility of the people to make right use of it.
Also, by fielding the right candidate who has more chances of winning the elections, the political parties or the candidate need not spend exorbitantly during election campaign which includes the illegal offering of money or incentives for votes to the electorate. This may result in arresting the corruption by the politicians once they claim power.
The major reason for the low turn-out during the elections is that the electorate does not find none of the candidates fielded in the elections are worth voting. instead of choosing one from the corrupted lot, they choose to abstain from voting. The reason for such an opinion can be attributed to the criminal background of the candidate or his/her corrupt practices. With the introduction of NOTA and political parties thinking twice on fielding the right candidates, there is a hope in increasing the voter turnout, especially the urban educated class. Higher voter turn out increases the chance of electing the right candidate.
This is not the first time the indian judiciary has stepped in, to not only protect the people, but give them the powers to fight the corrput political parties. And introduction of NOTA after persistent reluctance from the government for over a decade, is major develoment in cleansing the indian politics. A time may come with demands for fresh elections with fresh set of candidates, if the NOTA recieves highest number of votes in the first election which could be the next step. However, the ultimate power of NOTA rests in the hands of the electorate to make the best use of it. It is time for the people of this country to be honest and sincere in utilising this opportunity and sending a strong message to the lawmakers of this country about their intolerance to corruption.
Nice Pogs.. gud going.. u shared a very important piece of information..and cleared a misconception regarding NOTA, that many people may have. The main advantage of NOTA I feel is that it (with the help of active media) will put pressure on political parties. Though rejection registers were already there, wherein people who do not want cast their votes could sign, but the visibility was zero. In fact most of the people never knew about such option. But with NOTA, the visibility for rejection seems to be enlarged. And Media has to play a big role here. Its an experiment in Indian democracy and I wish it pays off. India desperately need such electoral reforms, including compulsory voting, if we really want our endemic polity system to gain some credibility.
ReplyDelete