Mixed views over SC verdict on negative voting

Political opinion here was divided over the Supreme Court verdict Friday allowing voters the right to reject all candidates in an electoral fray by exercising the option of None of the Above (NOTA) in EVMs and ballot papers.

While few questioned the court's authority to pass such a verdict, some called it redundant. And some political leaders welcomed the decision.

"I don't think SC has any authority to make laws. It is entirely for the lawmakers to decide what will be on the EVM machine. SC has given the verdict and it is entitled to respect but as a citizen I don't think it is necessary," former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee told media persons here.

Chatterjee, himself a lawyer, though refused to give any reason for his views.

"Let the SC first say why it has given the verdict, rather than asking me a reason for my no," added Chatterjee.

While Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee called the verdict "needless", party parliamentarian and ex-union urban development minister Sougata Roy welcomed the decision.

"The verdict is of the SC. So it is supreme and it is difficult to comment on that. But as a politician I don't think it was required. If a person doesn't like the candidates, he will not go to vote. That will itself show that he doesn't like the candidates," said Mukherjee.

Roy said: "If a voter is allowed to register his right of rejection, I think it is a progressive step."

State president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rahul Sinha also hailed the verdict.

"We wholeheartedly welcome the decision. It will go a long way in strengthening democracy in the country and help weed out unwanted people who have for long become part of the political system," said Sinha.