Gagging NOTA revolution

BHOPAL: After the big-bang judgment from the Supreme Court, ushering the NOTA revolution in polls, the right-to-reject beep is yet to resonate among the voters. And, this with less than 40 days left for the mother-of-all battles in Madhya Pradesh.
The Election Commission's silence is deafening. The electoral body in the state claims it's still waiting for the Election Commission of India's directive to kick off an awareness campaign on NOTA.
No political party wants voters to know about the new button. Every neta worth his salt wants his constituency to know just the party symbol. The poll panel is yet to wake up. And the NOTA revolution appears stillborn - an unknown button for vast swathes of the MP heartland.
The Supreme Court in its landmark judgment on September 27 directed the Election Commission to undertake awareness programmes to educate the masses on NOTA. But Election Commission's state nodal officer, Sanjay Singh Baghel, told TOI on Sunday, "We implement the directions of Election Commission of India. As and when directions to implement NOTA are notified, we will start educating people."
And awareness on NOTA is yet to trickle down to the state's rural hinterland that comprises 80% of 4.7 crore voters in the state. The electoral officer, however, said "We still have time to educate people on NOTA."
Politicians are unfazed. The panic button which was supposed to compel political parties to nominate a clean candidate and decriminalize the law-making system is a non-existent entity for them. Rural voters are still unaware of their right to cast a 'negative vote' and netas are buoyed by their ignorance.
"NOTA has no influence here. My popularity is enough. The new button is no challenge. We will, in fact, win by over 25,000 votes," said the public health engineering and cooperatives minister, Gauri Shankar Chaturbhuj Bisen. He is the BJP MLA from the Balaghat constituency. "I have won from my constituency five times and will continue to win. NOTA doesn't exist for me," he said.
The situation is no different in Tikamgarh constituency where Congress MLA Yadvendra Singh is confident that the party will win all five seats in the district. "Let people know and practise their rights. It will not affect the things as they have been," he said.
But voters in Tikamgarh still don't know about the new option. "We are not aware about the NOTA button. No one came here and informed us about it," said Sanath Kumar Jain, a 52-year-old voter from Tikamgarh.
For Bhopal Central constituency MLA, Dhruv Narayan Singh, NOTA is an exercise in futility. "The government and the Election Commission is yet not prepared for 100% voting in the country. I am confident of sweeping the polls in my constituency," he said.
There's another shocker from another neta. Congress MLA from Bhopal North constituency, Arif Aqueel said, "Without new rules or new norms, this option is absolutely useless. It won't help anyone."
So who wants NOTA? The politicians don't. The electoral body is yet to educate the voters. So is the NOTA revolution dead? We will know when the people give their verdict.