Chhattisgarh elections: NOTA should be scrapped, says CM Bhupesh Baghel

Ahead of the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said that the NOTA (none of the above) option for citizens who are not inclined to vote should be scrapped. The NOTA has a symbol — a ballot paper with a black cross on it. The NOTA button on an EVM ensures the secrecy of the ballot.

CM Baghel said that sometimes NOTA polled more votes than the margin of victory and loss. "The Election Commission should take its cognisance. Many times it has been seen that NOTA polled more votes than the margin of victory and loss (between two candidates)," he said.

 

He said that many voters press the NOTA button thinking they either have to hit the one at the top or at the bottom. "So, NOTA should be stopped," he added.

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In the 2018 Assembly elections, Chhattisgarh recorded 76.88 per cent voter turnout with 14,290,497 of the total 18,588,520 electors exercising their franchise. The NOTA had polled 282,738 votes. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, over 196,000 NOTA votes were polled in the state, which has 11 parliamentary seats.

Chhattisgarh is set to vote in two phases on November 7 and 17, and the results will be declared on December 3. The first phase of polling for 20 seats in Chhattisgarh will take place on November 7, and the remaining 70 seats in the state will go to the polls on November 17. The Model Code of Conduct has already come into effect in Chhattisgarh.