In wake of elections for local self-government bodies, the Gujarat High Court ordered the State Election Commission (SEC) to file an affidavit on what steps it has taken to educate and aware voters regarding ‘None of The Above’ (NOTA) option.
The polls are slated for six municipal corporations, 56 municipalities, 31 district panchayats and over 230 taluka (tehsil) panchayats in two phases on November 22 and 29. The counting of votes would be held on December 2. The High Court has also issued notice to SEC on a petition filed by advocate KR Koshti which sought to know the status of the compliance of the October 30 order of the High Court allowing the NOTA option for the local polls on a civil appeal filed by him.
According to the petitioner the STC has not done enough to educate and aware people about the availability of the NOTA option. It should be properly advertised on the radio, tv channels, newspapers and other media, he said to the court
On October 30 the high court directed the SEC to allow the NOTA option. The same court had earlier in August this year struck down the state government’s move to make voting compulsory in the local body polls. The SEC, putting forward the argument did not allow NOTA for the polls in its notification while announcing it on October 23.
Koshti had challenged it demanding the modification of the notification with inclusion of the NOTA option for the voters. The division bench of Acting Chief Justice Jayant Patel and Justice N V Anjaria had accepted the appeal and directed the SEC to make NOTA option available for the voters during the polls. The SEC issued a modified notification accordingly. Now the petitioner contends that no appropriate steps are being taken by the commission to make people aware and educated about the availability of the NOTA options.
There are total 2,749 nomination forms qualified for the upcoming elections for local self-government bodies. Out of 4,690 nomination forms, 1941 are disapproved while 2749 are approved. For Taluka panchayat polls, total 20,412 forms were received, of which 7,904 were disapproved while 12,504 were found as per rule. In 56 municipalities, 7,891 nomination forms were filed, of which 2,050 were disapproved while 5,837 were approved. Besides, as many as 94 BJP candidates (33 in municipalities, 53 in taluka panchayats, 6 in district panchayats and 2 in municipal corporations) are declared victorious unopposed on Monday. BJP has regained Thasra municipality with 6 party candidates winning bypolls uncontested.