None of the above (NOTA) option, first used in the Indian political system during the Assembly elections held in five States last year, could not get people’s response this year too with a slight rise in the number of votes.
Against the lok Sabha election figures — 1, 90,927 votes (1.5 per cent of total votes) — the Assembly election 2014 saw just 2, 35,045 (1.7 per cent of total votes) NOTA votes. "Voters who are lacking options and are in search of better candidates push the NOTA button.
Political parties should keep in mind the opinion of the general public, and likewise introduce better candidates. People need to be more aware about the strength of NOTA. I think NOTA does not affect any political party and nor is it so dominating right now to conduct a re-election, "P K Jajoria, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Jharkhand said.
In the Vidhan Sabha elections, most number of NOTA votes was casted in Chatra (7724), Simaria (7619), Deoghar (5761), Barkatha (5104) and Jagannathpur (4914). The NOTA button was least utilized in Ranchi (717), Panki (776), Ichagarh (835), Gandey (868) and Bhawanathpur (975).
B K Sinha, (HOD Political Science) of St Xavier's college said, "The increase in NOTA is negligible this time. Its main purpose is to send a strong message to political parties so that criminals are not given tickets. Even if NOTA gets the highest number of votes, the second highest vote receiver would still win and re-election would not take place. A strong message should be send to the Election Commission to promote and amend NOTA and forward it to the government. NOTA has come into the system but I don't think that situation will arise when elections would be cancelled because of it."
To awaken the political parties and make sure the clean, right, people-centric and non-corrupt candidates contest, NOTA system of voting will need some changes in its rules and have to wait few more years to dominate, he added. A student of Ranchi University who pushed the NOTA button said, "I did not find any candidate deserving in the whole list to rule my constituency. I hope NOTA will get better numbers someday and challenge the parties to put forward much better candidates. As for now let us see what this government has in its pocket for the next 5 years. "