NOTA a fictional candidate!

When Dr. Dalip Singh, a 1982 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, was appointed as Commissioner, Haryana Election Commission, nobody guessed he is a serious civil servant who is determined to spot anomalies of elections in the state, improve and implement corrective action fearlessly. In a significant move, Dr. Dalip Singh has decided to treat ‘none-of-the-above’ or NOTA option as a “fictional candidate” for the first time in the electoral history of the country. He declared, “in the upcoming municipal polls, making it must for winning candidates to secure more votes than those cast for NOTA. He announced this before elections to the municipal corporations of Karnal, Panipat, Yamunanagar, Rohtak and Hisar and municipal committees of Jakhal Mandi in Fatehabad and Pundri in Kaithal. He added a new dimension to the local body elections, when he explained, “if the contesting candidates individually receive less votes than those cast for the fictional candidate, NOTA, none of the candidates will be declared elected. The polls will be cancelled and held afresh.” Importantly, “candidates securing lesser votes than NOTA would not be eligible to file nominations for fresh polls to be held later.” If a contesting candidate and NOTA both receive equal valid votes, the candidate, and not the fictional candidate, shall be declared elected, he said. But, in the case of re-election, if NOTA again gets the highest number of votes, the candidate with the second highest votes will be declared elected, he added.