Right to reject
SHILLONG: Majority of the political parties in Meghalaya have welcomed the ruling of the Supreme Court on Friday empowering a voter to reject all the candidates in a poll in case he finds them unsuitable by pressing the ‘None of the Above’ (NOTA) button to be provided on electronic voting machines (EVMs) by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Members of several political parties in the State have contended that the Supreme Court’s order will provide a fair chance to the people to reject all the candidates in the fray thereby raising consciousness among the political parties to project clean candidates during elections.
The Election Commission on Friday said it would straightaway implement the Supreme Court judgment directing it to provide a NOTA button on electronic voting machines (EVMs). The button can be pressed by a voter if he/ she wishes to reject all the candidates in case he finds them unsuitable.
While welcoming this judgement, NPP leader James Sangma said, “Looking at it positively this judgement is a clear indication to all the political parties that democracy is not on the right track due to the functioning of the parties.”
Sangma stated that the Supreme Court ruling was in accordance with the current situation in the nation whereby people have been complaining about the current state of affairs and have expressed unhappiness over the functioning of many political parties.
“We are still a young democracy as compared to other democracies and it will be too early to judge on the current situation of the nation,” he added.
Meanwhile, commenting on the reasons behind the passing of this order, the NPP legislator said, “This will not have much of an impact because for a person who doesn’t want to vote for any candidate, he might as well sit at home rather than going to the polling booth to press the ‘NOTA’ button.” General secretary of the BJP Meghalaya unit, Dipayan Chakraborty, termed this judgement as a ‘landmark ruling’ as it not only empowers the people to reject any candidate but also to make the political parties conscious about their way of functioning.
“The leaders would be more conscious while projecting the candidates for elections and this will also help the political parties to function in a clean and transparent way to win the trust of the people,” Chakraborty said.
On the other hand, UDP leader Bindo M Lanong has expressed discontentment over the judgement of the Supreme Court stating that the addition of this new option is a disruption to the normal democratic process.
When asked from the party’s point of view, Lanong said, “As of now, it is too early for the party to comment on this matter, but personally, I don’t welcome this order.” Lanong was of the opinion that in a democracy it would be difficult to find a person who is fully acceptable to the electorate. “So instead of changing the entire electoral process let the electorates choose the best of the candidates found fit for the job,” he stated.