Ahmedabad: Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel on Tuesday questioned the Election Commission's decision to introduce NOTA in the Gujarat Rajya Sabha elections in which he is one of the candidates, alleging that it was done "post notification".
He also referred to the delay in scheduling the elections which were due in June.
"First Rajya Sabha election was postponed. Second NOTA was permitted post notification. Reasons best known to the Election Commission," Patel posted on Twitter.
Officials in the Election Commission, who refused to be identified, however, said that the directions to use NOTA in Rajya Sabha elections were enforced in January 2014 after the Supreme Court in 2013 made it mandatory to have the 'None Of The Above' option in EVMs.
Patel, the high-profile political secretary to party president Sonia Gandhi, is seeking another Rajya Sabha term in the polls to be held on August 8.
His party MLAs from Gujarat are huddled together at a resort in Bengaluru following desertion by six legislators.
It is for the first time in two decades that a contest will take place in a Rajya Sabha election in Gujarat as earlier candidates used to get elected unopposed.
The poll authorities on Monday announced here that none of the above (NOTA) option can be used for the RS elections.
Gujarat Assembly secretary D M Patel had said that the NOTA option will be printed on ballot papers to be used in the Rajya Sabha polls.
The EC had earlier declared that the RS polls for 10 seats in the states of Gujarat, Goa and West Bengal will be held on June 8.
However, on May 22, it announced postponement of the polls which were later rescheduled for August 8.
In a jolt to the Congress, six of its MLAs in Gujarat quit the party on July 27 and July 28. Three of them joined the BJP and one of them, Balwantsinh Rajput, was made the BJP's third candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls.
In the 182-member Assembly, the strength of the Congress has gone down to 51 from 57.
Subsequently, the rattled Congress tucked away 44 of its MLAs to a Bengaluru resort to insulate them from alleged "poaching" attempts by the BJP.
The BJP has fielded party president Amit Shah, Union minister Smriti Irani and former Congress MLA Balwantsinh Rajput in the Rajya Sabha elections.
Of the total 11 RS members from the state, the term of three--Irani and Dilipbhai Pandya (both BJP) and Patel—is ending on August 18.
The Congress has also issued a whip to its MLAs to remain present on the day of the polling, failing which they will be debarred from the party for six years.
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