NOTA: From Symbolic Dissent to the Horizons of Radical Democracy
NOTA: From Symbolic Dissent to the Horizons of Radical Democracy A Seemingly “Toothless Tiger” Ain’t Always a Paper Tiger! AKHAR BANDYOPADHYAY ⤡ DEBAPRASAD BANDYOPADHYAY ⤡ Posted on 17th May, 2026 (GMT 03:56 hrs) ABSTRACT India’s NOTA — born from the Supreme Court’s 2013 PUCL judgment — gave voters a secret, counted way to reject all candidates. Over a decade later, even the Court admits it has “hardly made any impact” on criminalisation, dynasticism and money power. The May 2026 state elections (1.09 million NOTA votes across West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Keralam and Puducherry) changed zero outcomes. Its impotence is structural — trapped by FPTP’s winner-takes-all logic, the absence of binding Right to Reject and Right to Recall, hollow decentralisation, and all parties’ addiction to extractive growth amid climate crisis. Globally, it lags far behind Colombia’s voto en blanco or Indonesia’s kotak kosong, which can force fresh elections with new candidates. NOTA is both sympto...