Just a few days before the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections and thousands of voters are showing their interest to press NOTA (none of the above) while exercising their voting right. This time also we can see this type of grievance in the various constituencies where some of the voters are expected to reject the electing candidates.
The option of NOTA was first used in the year 2013 during assembly elections of Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.
The NOTA option would be made available for voter this time in Himachal Pradesh as well.
According to reports, in the 2017 Vidhan Sabha elections in the state, 34,232 voters pressed NOTA and rejected all the candidates. Joginder Nagar received the highest 1,162 NOTA, and the second highest NOTA button was pressed in Shahpur where 1,010 voters rejected all the candidates.
Voting is a conventional manner of will or opinion in an electoral procedure. The right to reject suggests that a voter while voting can reject all the contenders contesting the election. Such a right signifies a choice to remain nonpartisan. This may happen when a voter feels that none of the candidates has the right to be elected. It transpires by the way of the voter’s choice, belief, thinking and expression. The right to reject has its genus in freedom of speech and expression.
NOTA is a popular choice amongst the people of Himachal Pradesh as 29,155 voters pressed NOTA in the 2014 Lok sabha election which increased by 33,008 in the 2019 Lok sabha election, where Dharmshala 11,327, Mandi 5,298, Hamirpur 8,026 and Shimla 8,357 people showed their disapproval to all the candidates. As BJP won this election from all four seats the percentage of people who chose NOTA option was 0.87 percent out total 38,01,793 votes polled in the state.
This shows that the people of Himachal Pradesh are aware of their fundamental rights and honest with their choices.
Recently, voters got a chance to press NOTA during the November 2021 by-elections for Mandi Lok Sabha seat along with Arki, Jubbal Kotkhai and Fatepur Vidhan Sabha seat where 14,852 voters disapproved of the candidates.
Shockingly, in Mandi Lok Sabha seat, 12,661 votes pressed NOTA to reject all the candidates. For this particular seat, Congress Himachal Pradesh President Pratibha Singh fought the election against Brigadier Khushaal Thakur where Singh won the elections by 7,490 votes.
Having only two major parties in power for such a long period is making people search some other political options where parties like Aam Admi Party could find a footing into the state.