‘ Naxalites forced tribals for NOTA’
Naxals had forced tribals of Bastar in Chhattisgarh to opt for None of The Above ( NOTA) option in the justconcluded Lok Sabha elections after their poll boycott call faced strong opposition from the local adivasis, intelligence sources said on Wednesday.
Sources said the maoists had been forced to make a climb down on their poll boycott stand on the eve of the recently held parliamentary elections when they sensed the mood among the local tribals who were strongly in favour of participating in the elections. Following this, the rebels had relaxed their order asking the tribals to opt for NOTA if they wanted to exercise their franchise.
“Sensing the rebellious mood among the tribals, Maoists were forced to make a climb down by relaxing their poll boycott stand and asking the locals to opt for NOTA.
The Naxals however had sent a strong message among the tribals in the region that any violation of the relaxed norm would be severely dealt with,” a senior police posted in Bastar said. Hence, the tribal belt of Chhattisgarh comprising parliamentary constituencies of Bastar, Kanker , Sarguja and Rajnandgaon had witnessed almost sixty percent of total 2.2 lakh votes cast for NOTA in eleven parliamentary constituencies in the state. “Naxals feared an uprising among the tribals against them if they pushed hard their poll boycott call. Hence, they had decided to soften their stand allowing the locals to participate in the elections but with a rider that they needed to opt only for NOTA and not cast their votes for any political parties,” intelligence sources said.