BENGALURU: While there were several Bengalureans who decided not to vote on Thursday, there were hundreds of families who chose the None Of The Above (NOTA) option as they had declared they would, before the Lok Sabha elections. These are the victims of ponzi companies including Ambidant, Ajmera etc., who have been cheated of their life savings, totalling over Rs 3,000 crore.
“About 1,000 of us had decided to press the NOTA button and hundreds of families from our constituency have done it. We are about 50,000 families, most of them Muslims, who have been cheated by over 25 Ponzi companies across Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Affected families voting in second phase will also choose NOTA,” declared Narendra Kumar, State Joint Secretary of Lanchamuktha Karnataka, a forum.
With the slogan “Pehle Refund, Phir Vote”, these families said they are disappointed by the slow investigation process and delay in government permission to sell seized properties of the ponzi companies. “Neither the past Congress government nor the current JDS Chief Minister has done anything useful.
All the 100-plus BJP MLAs are maintaining a deafening silence. Now, after losing faith in local MLAs and left with no other choice, we have decided to hold a protest against non-performing leaders from all the parties,” they said.
‘None of the elected representatives stood with us’
The victims were assured of refunds during the Assembly election held in May 2018, but none of the elected representatives stood with them. This eroded their faith in the elected representatives and prompted them to cast their vote as None Of The Above (NOTA), they said.“We are expecting results and we took this as an opportunity to show our angst against the present ruling combine. The investigating officer from the revenue department has reportedly seized some of the properties of the ponzi companies but we are told that they are waiting for orders from government officials to refund us,” said Tamanna, a victim of Ambidant from Shivaji Nagar constituency that comes under Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency.
Tamanna, along with four of her family members, opted for NOTA.The Lanchamukta Karnataka Nirmana Vedike has been supporting the ponzi victims and various protest has also been organised by them.Syed Ali (name changed) along with seven members of his family from Jayamahal constituency in North Bangalore cast NOTA. “No politicians came to help us this long;even when we protested none came in front to stand with us. This is to make them realize that what they have done to us was wrong” said Syed Ali.
The victims along with the help of the Vedike have decided to ensure that other victims and their across Karnataka too press a None Of The Above in the second phase of the elections. “The results will definitely show when the number of NOTA in our constituency will glare at the faces of these politicians. We hope atleast then some relief will be given to us.” said another victim.