How often have you found yourself asking, 'whom to vote?'. The thug who escaped a police encounter, the illicit liquor baron, a man with many wives, the rapist, the corrupt land mafia or the consistently non-performing seasoned politician?
Did you ever feel that none of the candidates from your constituency deserve your vote? Most of us resign to the fact, and do not vote at all. Though every Indian should be casting their precious vote, not many are aware of 49-O, a rule in the Conduct of Election Rules, which allows the voter not to cast his vote for any candidate but can record that fact, which can give a smug satisfaction, 'My vote didn't go for the unworthy candidates'.
This was exactly the sentiment expressed by Siddharth, who has been exercising 49-O for the past 10 years. He said, "It was out of disillusionment with the candidates that I have been casting 49-O. But every time I exercise 49-O, I get a satisfaction that at least my vote is not wasted on undeserving candidates."
Prasan Navin, a B.Sc student is convinced that he does not want to waste his vote on candidates who are not worthy of his vote. He had already checked the affidavits of the candidates from major parities and had found them unimpressive. As a last resort, he is going to check out the credentials of the independents from his constituency. He said, "If the independents also do not measure up to my expectations, then I won't be left with much choice but to exercise 49-O."
Sumit Negi, an entrepreneur, who plans to exercise 49-O as he is dissatisfied with all the candidates in his constituency, C.V.Raman Nagar, said, "When I checked out the affidavits of the candidates from my constituency, none of them had any worthy credentials."
He added, "Five years ago, when the sitting BJP MLA declared his assets, it was only `71 lakhs, but now, in the affidavit, his declared assets were to the tune of `31 crores! As far as the sitting BJP MLA is concerned, what he had achieved is only personal growth. In the past five years, hardly any development happened in the constituency. The problems in the area remain the same."
Pratima.R, an engineering student, a first time voter said, "I really wish there is a candidate who I can look up to. But unfortunately, I think I am left with no choice but to go for 49-O."
Low awareness
Though it has been in place for quite sometime, the awareness about 49-O among the public is very poor. Gandhimathy, a housewife, when asked about 49-O, innocently replied, "Is it a bus route?".
Akash a PG student was equally unaware. He said, "I will Google it." No political party is actively creating awareness among the public about 49-O, expect for the Aam Aadmi Party, which is not in the fray for this election.