SC refuses to stay NOTA option for Gujarat Rajya Sabha polls

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to stay the August 8 Rajya Sabha elections in Gujarat, paving the way for the Election Commission to use the NOTA option in the biennial polls.

A bench of the top court questioned the delay by the Congress in filing its petition, pointing out that the poll panel had issued a notification on the matter in January 2014 and another circular in 2015.

The Supreme Court, however, issued a notice to the EC to decide the larger constitutional issues involved.Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, representing the Congress told the court that including NOTA will encourage corruption. “It’s a recipe for corruption,” Sibal said.

The NOTA none of the above  option allows voters to reject all candidates in the fray.Six Gujarat MLAs switched over from the Congress to the BJP last week, seen as a major blow to the prospects of the opposition party candidate Ahmed Patel.