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| Young voters want green signal on NOTA as mainstream political parties develop cold over latest electoral reform | | Salman Soz terms apprehensions as disappointing | | Jehangir Rashid
SRINAGAR, Nov 10: Young voters of Jammu & Kashmir are disappointed that they may not get option of rejection of candidates in elections since the mainstream parties are not willing to extend the 'None of the Above' (NOTA) option for next year's Assembly elections.
While coalition partners National Conference and Congress believe that separatists would take advantage of this option and belittle the mainstream politicians in the state, opposition People’s Democratic Party believes that 'NOTA' is a non-issue in Jammu & Kashmir.
The party is more worried about the 'political deficit' more so when the elections to the state assembly are hardly one year away. Young Congressman Salman Soz while expressing his disappointment over the apprehensions raised by mainstream leaders over the use of 'NOTA' option said that people of state should be given chance to use it as is being done by the other people of the country. Soz believes that this option would attract more people towards the electoral process in Jammu & Kashmir.
"If NOTA is good for all states, it is good for Jammu & Kashmir. Jammu & Kashmir citizens should have the same rights as everybody else. If more people in Jammu & Kashmir participate in elections, it will be good for our democracy (even if NOTA is the motivation)," wrote Salman on the micro-blogging site twitter.
Salman, son of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) President, Professor Saif-ud-Din Soz said that he disagrees with the views put forward by Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah and other leaders of National Conference and Congress over the usage of 'NOTA' in Jammu & Kashmir. He opines that people of the state should have the choice of rejecting the candidates like the other people of country.
Like Salman there are many other young voters who say that 'NOTA' option would go a long way in presenting the real face of mainstream politicians who take part in elections despite doing nothing for the larger common good. These young voters say that once the 'exploitative' politicians are rejected then fresh faces may venture and take a plunge in electoral politics of Jammu & Kashmir.
"National Conference benefits a lot by separatism in Kashmir as the party wins the assembly seats of Srinagar district due to the poll boycott call enforced by the separatists. The party is offering the lame excuse that separatists would get strengthened if NOTA option is put to use in elections in the state," said a group of youngsters while sharing views with Early Times.
The young voters while hailing the step of Election Commission of India (ECI) to introduce NOTA say that this would help a lot in removing the 'dead-wood' from the political scene in the country. They say 'corrupt' and 'greedy' people can be shown exit from the political scene as and when bold initiatives like 'NOTA' by people entrusted with the responsibility of correcting the whole system.
'NOTA' gives an option to a voter to reject the candidates who are fighting the elections. Once a voter is convinced that the candidates fighting elections on tickets of various political parties or as an independent are not 'competent' enough to be elected, he or she simply press the 'NOTA' button while expressing his/her displeasure.
Interestingly, the elections would not be nullified even if the majority of voters press on 'NOTA' option as the candidate having maximum votes would be declared as elected. This option would be put to use in the forthcoming assembly elections in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Mizoram. |
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