There
has been much debate & analysis on the recent judgement of Supreme Court of
India on providing “None of the above” (NOTA) option in every constituency
whenever elections are held for electing candidates for assemblies, Parliament
or any other elected bodies. Intellectuals & some civil societies have
described it as next step to “Right to reject” as demanded by them for quite
some time. Some describe it as a measure to enable voters to elect a perfect
candidate as their representative from their constituency.
Democracy in India means winning the elections
and it doesn't include loosing the elections. All exercise is done to see a
political party or coalition forming cabinet at centre or in states. An
Individual Legislature elected by the voters from a particular constituency
means nothing in Democracy. Voters may press "NOTA" button in any
constituency to show their anguish against political system in India, in their
respective constituencies. But elections in India are fought not by individuals
but by Symbols. People are advised to press one or the other symbol in any
election. Youngsters are being requested to enrol themselves as voters from
their constituencies. ECI & some organizations asked people to vote to
elect their Government but not their representatives as Law Makers. ECI must
educate people regarding the power & duties of the members for which it is
holding elections.
People in any constituency know beforehand how
many symbols are popular in their constituency.
Delhi elections were not declared even when a
‘New Political party ‘declared its intention to fight elections in Delhi. Two
symbols were already known to people as competitors, namely HAND & LOTUS,
as soon as ECI allotted "Broom" symbol to AAP, the party popularized
the symbol for the knowledge of the prospective voters. People are being told
by media & the parties that there is fight between those three symbols in
Delhi. Poll surveys are being conducted to project one or other party as winner
in the 5 states for which elections have been announced. The surveys are being
conducted even when nominations papers have not been filed.
BJP has declared its Prime Ministerial
Candidate even when elections are 7 months away to elect the members of 16th
Lok Sabha. Campaign has been started to popularize the candidate. Rallies are
being organized to consolidate votes though no notification for conducting
elections has been issued by the ECI. TV debates are being held on day to basis
for his candidature & claim on the post of PM of India though there is no
direct election for the post of PM in India. PM can be selected by any
party/coalition if it musters the support of 273 MPs elected from 273 Lok Sabha
constituencies spread across all over India. Will voters be electing a right
candidate from their constituency or head of the Union Cabinet? If voters are
being asked to elect a PM rather than their representative MP from their Lok
Sabha constituency, then why they demanded NOTA. There will not be a
"PM" button like a "NOTA" button in the EVM machines.
Intellectuals demanding "NOTA" or "PM", voters have to
decide. Democracy can't be defined on the version of SC order. NOTA has no
value in Indian Democracy, everybody will come to know after the elections of 5
states are held. Take my words as granted we don't elect candidates from our
constituencies but SYMBOLS.
Pardeep K. Gupta
I agree, in practical terms, NOTA option may not amount to anything in the context of Indian elections. However, It has an important function in providing an option to the individual voter to reject all the symbols or candidates present in the election. We have to remember that while we vote for symbols, it is not an automatic process. We can only vote for a symbol that is representing a candidate in a particular constituency.
ReplyDeleteAs for voting for PM etc, it is all mere posturing that suits certain parties at certain point in time.
The NOTA option is not something created by the SC for the first time. Our electoral system had this provision when we were using paper ballots. What SC has done is to remove a limitation of EVM wherein one could not exercise NOTA (unless one prefers to give away secrecy and do it outside EVM).
If a citizen wants to take part in the electoral process and still doe snot find deserving candidates, let that citizen have a provision of exercising NOTA. My assessment is that it will not a widely used option. Only negligible votes will be poled under this option, under normal circumstances. Yet, it remains an important right for the citizen.
My view:
ReplyDeletePros:
The NOTA can give people to express their annoyance with system. eg. If they feel no elected rep/party is going to sort out their infra or admin problems.
Cons:
But then, after exercising NOTA, a re-election will give them the same choice of not-confident-on candidates/parties.
This based on my opinion AAP is not a betterment to existing parties.
Pros:
The NOTA can help eliminate a FULL SET of not-satisfactory candidates.
Cons:
Does not serve if few are not satisfactory.
Cons:
With the constraints of Polling making only about 55% average polling, are voters going to turn up all the way to make the NOTA?
It will take extreme disatisfaction to reach that level.
Pros:
If Voting becomes compulsory, then NOTA becomes more valid, since after turning up at booth the NOTA may turn out to be best choice.
Cons:
If more than 50% is NOTA, then the reality is to go for a Re-Poll. Instead, if still the balance vote of less than 50% decides winner, there is no purpose for NOTA being in majority.
Cons:
But if such >50% NOTA makes Re-Poll, country may fall into constant repolling, and expenditure in fiscal/resource/manhour terms. Can India afford it?
Cons:
As you point out, the candidate is secondary, the symbol/party/caste/etc is primary for voting decision nullifies NOTA principle.
Educating public will take time, quite sometime to move to individual-based electability.
Cons:
What happens in Reserved Constituencies, if Dalit/Tribal candidates are denied opportunity by BC,OBC,UC polling NOTA?
It defeats purpose of Reserved Constituency, right?
[note: Reserved Constituency, all candidates will be Reserved Candidates. But need not be in majority in the area]
Pros:
Instead of Poll-Boycotting, the NOTA will give better voice to public protest.
Pros:
If all voters are motivated to poll, then impersonation will be avoided.
[But if Aadhaar like UID system is there the impersonation can be avoided by eVerification]
Cons:
NOTA type decisions need to be made after deliberation. Rushed implementation will insert unsurities into system.
Thanks