Maoists cite SC NOTA ruling to justify poll boycott

To justify their poll boycott call, the Maoists have cited the recent Supreme Court ruling on giving the electorate the option of not voting for any of the candidates in the fray by pressing the “none of the above” button.

To justify their poll boycott call, the Maoists have cited the recent Supreme Court ruling on giving the electorate the option of not voting for any of the candidates in the fray by pressing the “none of the above” button.

In a set interview — sent in a Q & A format — emailed to Hindustan Times, Ramanna, secretary to the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, denounced the election system and stated that even the Supreme Court had to intervene to give the voters the alternative of ‘none of the above’, which he said was “negative voting”.

“This means that the judiciary, which also is part of the present system, has admitted that the interests of the people in the present election process is consistently on the decline. So, we believe that boycotting polls is also a justified people’s right,” the Maoist leader said.

The rebels said if the government adopted repressive measures to make the poll boycott campaign unsuccessful, it would “certainly be opposed”, thereby keeping open the possibility of a counter-offensive during the upcoming elections.