In the season of acrimony when BJP and Congress have locked horns on various fronts, the two arch-rivals are on the same page- opposing the use of None Of The Above (NOTA) option in the August 8 Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat.
Echoing views identical to that of Congress, a delegation of BJP comprising union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and BJP national general secretary Bhupendra Yadav urged the Election Commission for the immediate withdrawal of the order for use of NOTA option in the Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat.
Even before the BJP delegation gave the petition, finance minister Arun Jaitley had hinted in the Rajya Sabha that the ruling party is ready to sit across and sort out the confusion about the use of NOTA as the opposition had been protesting against the EC move.
Gujarat RS polls have turned into a high-stakes battle with BJP president Amit Shah, union minister Smriti Irani and Cong chief Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel vying for three vacant seats in the state. Congress defector, Balwantsingh Rajput, is BJP’s third candidate whose presence has posed a threat to Patel. After half a dozen legislators quit the party, Congress has herded its MLAs at a Bangalore resort.
“The direction for using NOTA option in the election for Rajya Sabha in the state of Gujarat be withdrawn with immediate effect,” BJP said in the memorandum. It said: “It is submitted that use of NOTA in the upcoming poll has become an issue of debate among political parties and therefore, a proper consensus should be made before the use of NOTA in an election in Rajya Sabha.” The BJP’s petition to the EC came on a day when Gujarat Congress moved the Supreme Court and sought a direction to abolish NOTA option for the Rajya Sabha elections in the state. Congress’s state chief whip Shailesh Manubhai Parmar filed the petition in the SC.
As there is no secrecy of voting in Rajya Sabha polls, BJP has maintained that the purpose of NOTA is not of much use. “NOTA is fine in case of direct elections but in case of Rajya Sabha elections, it should be withdrawn. This option should be eliminated as it creates confusion,” said minister of state for parliamentary affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi after submitting the memorandum. He said the NOTA goes against the nature of the whip.
Congress had also approached the EC against the use of NOTA option in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, claiming it violated the Constitution and electoral laws.
BJP has cited the ECI letter dated January 24, 2014, letter implying use of NOTA in Rajya Sabha polls on the basis of a Supreme Court judgement. However, after reading through the SC order, the BJP has specified that the court ordered use of NOTA in Lok Sabha and state assembly polls and not the Rajya Sabha polls. “There is no specific direction by SC for use of NOTA option for election for Rajya Sabha and therefore ECI has acted beyond the direction passed by the SC by issuing the order and further use of NOTA option in coming Rajya Sabha polls,” BJP has maintained in its memorandum.
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