UP polls 2012: Over 300 choose right to abstain

LUCKNOW: The Election Commission's sustained effort to increase voter awareness has borne fruit. However, with improved voter turnout being recorded in the first two phases of elections in UP, several people have also exercised their right to abstain from exercising their franchise.

UP's assistant chief electoral officer, Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, said, "In the first phase, 328 people expressed a desire to abstain from voting for candidates. Although final numbers of the second phase are not known, the EC received information about at least 10 people using the abstention clause in Gorakhpur.''

In other words, the largely ignored provision of Rule 49 (O) of the Representation of People Act (RPA) was put to use in many places. In Gorakhpur's Chargava, 60-year-old Draupadi Mani Tripathi, her son Dhananjay Mani Tripathi and daughter-in-law Nutan Tripathi went to the presiding officer seeking to exercise right to reject under the provisions of rule.

"We did not find anyone listed in the ballot sheet capable of representing us. We wish to reject all of them. Kindly put this on record," the three members of the Tripathi family wrote in the register. Chief electoral officer Umesh Sinha said, "Rule 49 (O) entitles a voter to put on record that he or she wishes to abstain from voting; and this is formally taken into account in the electoral records."

Complaints, however, were registered in at least four constituencies in Sitapur, where voters were allegedly disallowed from abstaining by using 49 (O). Akhil Bharatiya Matadhikari Sangh representative PN Kalki said, "Election officials were taken by surprise when many voters arrived at polling booth and demanded that the presiding officers endorse their right to abstain from voting. However, in many cases, voters were forced to cast their vote for one or the other candidate.''

Following complaints from at least 60 booths in Hargaon in Sitapur and one each from Biswa, Maholi, Leherpur and Sitapur main, the organisation also submitted a memorandum to Sitapur's district election officer, along with a copy to state CEO Umesh Sinha.

Kalki said, "We have demanded a repoll in the booths where voters were forcibly not allowed to sign the 17A register and abstain from voting. ''