In Uttarakhand hills, voters willing to trudge for miles to press NOTA

NAINITAL/DEHRADUN: The percentage of voters in hill constituencies of Uttarakhand who pressed the NOTA (None of the Above) option was more than the national average in the last general elections of 2014. While the national average of NOTA voters was 1.09% last time, in Uttarakhand, it was 1.1% of the total voting percentage.


According to poll watchers, the trend assumes significance considering that voters in hill constituencies — which in any case record a low voting percentage — were so disenchanted with the choice of candidates available to them – that they were willing to counter factors like inaccessible terrain and harsh weather conditions to go to polling booths and press NOTA. "There is a message to the political class in this. If a voter is willing to walk 10 km in the

hills

to press NOTA, it shows he is angry and disillusioned with current political alternatives," said Anoop Nautiyal, founder chairman of Doon-based think-tank Gati Foundation.

According to data available with EC, a total of 48,043 NOTA votes were registered in Uttarakhand in 2014 out of the total of 43.95 lakh votes polled. Almora where 15,245 of the 6,56,934 votes polled were NOTA recorded a NOTA percentage of 2.32%. This was followed by

Tehri

where total

voter turnout

was 7,76,945 out of which 10,762 pressed NOTA making the NOTA percentage here 1.4%. In Pauri Garhwal, total votes were 6,84,014 out of which 8,659 were for NOTA, making the NOTA percentage in the seat 1.3%. In Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar, the total votes cast were 11,01,934 out of which 10,328 were for NOTA making the NOTA percentage here 0.90% whereas in

Haridwar

, voter turnout was 11,75,734 out of which 3,049 was for NOTA making the NOTA percentage in the seat 0.30%.

Elaborating on the reasons why voters were opting for NOTA, a voter from Almora who claimed to have chosen the option last time, told TOI, “The entire statehood movement was focussed on the hilly areas of Uttarakhand. However, our politicians and policy makers have miserably failed to meet the expectations of people in the hills which is why so many people chose NOTA.”

Incidentally, voters say that this time, too, there are chances that the NOTA option may be used by many.

Sandeep Joshi, a Ranikhet-based voter, said, “The NOTA votes certainly denote disappointment among the people. This time, too, the numbers might be high because of the resentment among hill voters especially those belonging to the SC/ST category.”

Political parties meanwhile say that they are trying to motivate voters not to press the NOTA button. Shadab Shams, BJP poll co-ordinator for the Tehri constituency, said: “Our party’s booth-level workers are working hard to ensure that voters are not disillusion and instead vote for a party that can bring about decisive change.” In a similar vein, Congress state vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana said, “Our workers are going door-to-door and appealing to people to not press the NOTA button in frustration.”