NOTA in Rajya Sabha polls

The Rajya Sabha election from Gujarat is shaping into the mother of all electoral contests as BJP chief Amit Shah has pulled out all stops to see the back of Congress strategist Ahmed Patel. The election itself was postponed from June, giving time to persuade Gujarat Leader of Opposition Shankar Singh Vaghela to hang up his boots while Congress MLAs from his corner switched sides. When the Congress rushed its dwindling flock of MLAs to Karnataka, the host was subject to a massive income-tax raid accompanied by damning but unsubstantiated commentaries in the media. In this atmosphere, it is natural to see the decision to apply NOTA to the crucial Gujarat Rajya Sabha polls as yet another BJP machination to settle Ahmed Patel's hash.  

The Election Commission (EC) can in its defence claim it was merely implementing a Supreme Court judgment. But it has not yet answered why wasn't it notified for the Presidential election or for the Rajya Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh last year? It has also to take the rap for rescheduling the Gujarat polls, setting the stage for the unedifying spectacle of MLAs being rushed to another state for safety and Central probe agencies trying to trap their benefactor. The ruling BJP is aware that NOTA will be an ally in helping Modi and Amit Shah settle more than one personal score with Ahmed Patel. 

It is just as well the Supreme Court has agreed to examine the constitutional implications of this move, meaning that the matter is still not closed. But the legislature and the executive must shoulder the blame for not taking the initiative to amend the Representation of the People's Act. The highly resourceful Amit Shah gets the space to persuade some Congress MLAs to opt for NOTA. The government of the day is currently on a song. But once the tide turns, those very provisions that have helped the party in its quest for complete dominance may come to haunt it. Aware of this damaging potential, the BJP has approached the Supreme Court. But this was after it sat upon its responsibility to make suitable changes in the electoral laws.