National Conference, Congress warn against 'Nota' option for J&K polls

SRINAGAR: Ruling coalition partners in Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference and Congress, have urged the Centre not to include the Nota, or ‘none of the above’, option in elections in the state because separatists may misuse it.

The option was included by the Election Commission on a recent order of the Supreme Court.

Any decision on making an exception in electronic voting machines for J&K will have to be made by EC, and not the Centre. Government insiders said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has taken up the issue with the home ministry, while state Congress unit has sough help from party leadership to ensure no such facility is extended to Jammu & Kashmir, in national interest.

Offering Nota option in J&K is as good as “indirectly inviting referendum against Indian establishment”, said Taj Mohi-ud-Din, a senior Congress minister, who has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the issue.

“If you give such an option to the people it will mean giving a boycott option to them and boosting those who are against the democratic set-up,” he said. Congress party insiders said they have sent SOS to a number of functionaries in the High Command including secretary general Rahul Gandhi.

But, can the Election Commission of India exclude Nota in Jammu & Kashmir alone? A senior law ministry official said it is impossible. That is because the Supreme Court has amended the rule for entire country. “Even in state law there was an option of rejecting the vote but the procedure was cumbersome…and in the process the identity of the applicant would get revealed,” the law official said. “It is this section of the law that the Supreme Court has discarded.