Congress Supports NOTA to “Teach BJP A Lesson” after Indore Candidate Betrayal

Indore will vote in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Monday. The Congress has not won the Indore constituency, Madhya Pradesh’s biggest in terms of voters, in 35 years (since 1989), but this will be the first time it has not even been able to field a candidate. The BJP’s nominee is sitting MP Shankar Lalwani and the Congress had given a ticket to Akshay Kanti Bam, who quit the race on the last day of withdrawing nominations and then proceeded to quit the party as well, switching over to its rival.

The state Congress chief Jitu Patwari has said that the party will not support any of the remaining candidates and urged people to create a record of NOTA votes to punish the BJP. Senior Congress leader Sajjan Verma, a former minister and former MP, made an appeal in a video stating, “I appeal to the people of Indore… Our Congress candidate has been stolen by some people, who have deprived you of your right to vote. If you want to teach them a lesson, press the NOTA button and save democracy.”

“Voters of Indore had delivered a huge victory to the BJP in the last municipal and assembly elections. Despite this, the BJP murdered democracy by unfairly luring Mr Bam. Voters must give a befitting reply to BJP by picking the NOTA option,” senior Congress leader Shobha Ojha was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

The NOTA option was introduced at the Supreme Court’s directions in 2013 and has given voters a way to express their dissatisfaction with all the candidates contesting the elections. The votes given to NOTA do not impact the polls in any way and the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Election Commission last month on a petition seeking that an election in a constituency be declared void if the majority of voters choose NOTA. There was controversy surrounding the promotion of the NOTA option.

BJP Councillor Sandhya Yadav was caught on camera removing a poster pasted on an auto by an organization asking people to cast their votes for NOTA. The Congress filed a complaint with the Election Commission, while Ms Yadav stated that promoting the voting option was not in the interest of democracy. Madhya Pradesh BJP chief VD Sharma expressed surprise about the withdrawal of the nomination of the main opposition party candidate in Indore, stating that it was unnecessary as victory for the BJP in Indore was inevitable.

She urged voters to vote for the BJP instead of choosing NOTA. The situation in Indore has led to a divisive campaign about the NOTA option, with both parties seeking to sway the voters in their favor, while also raising questions about the fairness of the electoral process.