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The Election Commission has clarified that the provision of ‘None of the Above’, more commonly referred to as NOTA, has been available for elections to the Rajya Sabha since April 2014.
The clarification comes after proceedings of the Rajya Sabha were adjourned on Tuesday following Opposition protests against the EC notification providing for the use of NOTA in voting for elections to the House.
Gujarat’s elections to the Rajya Sabha, scheduled for August 8, will decide the fate of BJP chief Amit Shah, Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani and Ahmed Patel, Political Secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
In January 2014, the EC had sent a communication to the Chief Electoral Officers that following the particulars of the last candidate on the ballot paper, another panel may be provided and the words ‘None of the Above (NOTA)’ be printed therein, in the language or languages in which the ballot paper is printed.
The Rajya Sabha elections were earlier scheduled for June 8 but had to be pushed back as the Secretaries of the Legislative Assemblies, who are notified as Returning Officers (ROs) for the biennial elections to the Council of States, were also appointed Assistant ROs for the Presidential polls.
Another reason for deferring the elections was that the Commission had also invited recognised political parties to prove before it that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) could be tampered with.
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