Delhi election 2013: 'None of the Above' option had few takers

NEW DELHI: Indrani Vohra is an advertising professional. She chose to exercise the ' None of the Above' (NOTA) option on Wednesday to make her dissatisfaction with the prevailing system known. "When I thought of voting, I did not think any of the candidates in the fray could deliver on development of the area and hence I went for NOTA. It empowered me to register my view and how I feel dissatisfied with the system," Indrani said.

Across constituencies, TOI found people were either unaware about NOTA or were clear that they wanted their vote to be decisive. In northwest Delhi, nobody had heard of it. "Even if such an option has been provided, what is the sense of using it? This is such an important election where we need to bring about a change in governance for our betterment," said Sunil Saxena, a resident of Sector 9, Rohini.

In areas like Badarpur, Okhla and Chhatarpur, few seemed interested in opting for NOTA. "Most parties act the same way once they are elected. But we have to exercise our wisdom to elect the best available rather than waste our vote," said Shrishti Narang, a resident of Sarita Vihar.

"I have come all the way from home to vote. If I had to exercise NOTA, I would not have come at all," said Nand Ram, an elderly voter in Palam.

Baliram Sharma, of Laxmi Nagar, said: "Last year, I and my family members did not cast our votes. We had given a letter to the authorities rejecting all the candidates. This time we exercised NOTA."

In Chandni Chowk, some people like Tariq Sheikh of Ballimaran did discuss this option but didn't exercise it. Many were ignorant about it. Some thought it was another party. A couple from Ghonda, Ashok and Shakuntala Mehta, asked: "What is NOTA? We know nothing about it."