Belraj Soni, a Keralite settled in Mumbai, will be coming to Chavakkad, his native place to vote in the coming Lok Sabha elections on April 10. He will vote, but not for any of the candidates on the electronic voting machine (EVM). Soni, like, many others in this election will exercise his right to reject all the candidates on the ballot list by pressing the NOTA (None Of The Above) button on the EVM.
“I am proud to take part in the democratic process. But the selection of candidates by the political parties has disappointed me. That’s why I will be opting for NOTA,” Mr Soni, a kalaripayattu instructor at Somaiya College, Mumbai, told DC.
So is the case with Dilip Sivadas, an IT professional. “I am fed up of corruption. I will use NOTA as a weapon to register my protest against the political system in the country,” he said.
As it has for Soni and Sivadas, NOTA has come as a major weapon for those who harbour grouses against political parties for various reasons, including lack of development and other local issues. At least in some constituencies, where elections are fought closely, this can affect the prospects of candidates.
For example, the people of Banglavinchira of Muthukulam panchayat in Alappuzha, have decided to boycott the election in protest against successive governments failing to sort out the scarcity of potable water in the area. The households in the ward have carried out a protest march last week demanding immediate remedy to the burning issue. They have pasted posters and put up banners protesting against political parties in several places in the ward.
A Sajin Babu, a resident in the ward, says they have decided to boycott political parties and people’s representatives who come for votes. And they are looking at the NOTA option seriously.
“The people are struggling for water even to satisfy primary needs. Though politicians offered several promises to alleviate the problem in the past, nothing has materialized so far. Hence the decision,” he clarified.
Interestingly, the threat has had some response. Muthukulam block panchayat president Babita Jayan said that the issue would be sorted out before polling day.
“The local MLA, Ramesh Chennithala, has offered Rs 6 lakh to sort out the issue. All degraded pipes will be replaced in the area. The block panchayat has discussed the matter with ward members so that the issue could be resolved in the coming days,” she said.
The case of Babychen, who is working as an electrician and who belongs to Kanjikuzhy in Kottayam, is slightly different. The reason why he resents the political class is that though he has been an active worker of a political party, the party has ignored him in elections to local bodies.
“I was the constituency president of the youth wing of a major political party. I saw many among the young scaling heights after pleasing the leadership through various means. But genuine people like me were ignored,” Babychen said, adding that he was looking at NOTA as an option to register his protest.
But the political class has put up a brave front, dismissing the challenge by NOTA. Says Mr Sebastian Paul, former MP of Ernakulam and a political analyst: “Though there are some regional issues due to lack of development and voters getting angry over it, these will not affect the election results in any way.”
He pointed out that invalid votes had posed problems in tightly contested elections in the past. But this was eliminated after EVMs came into vogue. “One can compare NOTA with the people's mentality to cast invalid votes in the past,” Mr Paul said.
