NOTA (Represenrational Image)
Visakhapatnam: Araku Lok Sabha constituency spread over 400 kilometres remains in focus throughout the country, with the dissenting people wondering how many votes the parliamentary seat will poll under NOTA (None of the above).
In the 2019 elections, 47,977 voters of the Araku LS constituency had pressed the Nota button, refusing to choose from any one of the listed candidates.
Araku polled the second highest Nota votes, next only to Gopalganj (SC) constituency in Bihar that recorded 51,660 Nota votes. Incidentally, Araku seat, encompassing the Palakonda, Kurupam, Parvathipuram, and Saluru assembly constituencies in Parvathipuram Manyam district, as well as Araku, Paderu, and Rampachodavaram assembly seats in Alluri Sitarama Raju district, is a constituency reserved for members of the scheduled tribes.
Such a high number of voters refusing to choose any of the listed candidates cannot be overlooked in AP’s only ST-reserved constituency, which has 15.39 lakh voters.
Geetharani, a transgender woman with a degree in political science, says it is only a reflection of growing disillusionment among the electorate. She says, "Our agency area remains underdeveloped regardless of which political party rules. People of Araku constituency have lost confidence in major political parties. While campaigning over the last several decades, every party candidate has been making promises. But once elected, we become invisible to them.”
Geetharani is contesting the current elections from the Kurupam assembly constituency as a testament to dissatisfaction among tribals with mainstream parties.
National Alluri Sitarama Raju Youth Association asserts that tribal people are getting increasingly dissatisfied with mainstream parties, which is why increasing number of voters are opting for Nota.
ASR district CPM member K. Govinda Rao says, “Tribals vote NOTA to highlight their struggle for education, health, roads, forest land rights, housing, electricity, and livelihood opportunities.”
In 2019 elections, Vyricherla Kishore Chandra Suryanarayana Deo, a former union minister and senior parliamentarian, contested as the TD candidate from Araku, while Goddeti Madhavi of YSRCP won.
Although parties like Congress, Left, BJP, and Jana Sena contested from Araku, their candidates secured fewer votes than NOTA.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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