A group of Right to Reject activists has urged Election Commission to place the picture of vacant seat against the option of ‘None of the above’ (NOTA) in the EVM during the upcoming State Assembly elections.
Spreading awareness and to provide a clear picture about the None, Convener of the Right to Reject group, Vijay Wate, who is also a retired IPS officer, said that there is a great need to make voters aware of the new option which is going to be included in the State Assembly elections.
“This would provide an additional option for the voters and would gauge the winning inability of the candidates,” said Vijay, adding that after the inclusion of NOTA option the political parties would be forced to consider a candidate with good credentials. The voters have welcomed the move of the Election Commission and the group has received positive response.
He further clarified that the group was not promoting NOTA but it could be useful in case if the candidates contesting are not appropriate for the job and at that time NOTA could be used to practice their right to reject due to the incompetent candidates contesting elections.
The group will educate and spread awareness about details of the ‘Right to Reject’ which will be a milestone in the political history and it will have far reaching results in the next couple of years. As few days are left for elections it is not possible to initiate programmes which could cover remote places but interactions with groups and individuals could be done by the group members.