Use NOTA button if there is no right candidate: Hazare

Ralegan Siddhi (Maha), Mar 17: Anti-corruption crusader

today asked voters to use the "none of the above" (NOTA) option in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections if they did not find a right candidate with character and clean image.

"The country is not going to see change just by changing (the party in the) regime. If one regime did a graduation in corruption, another did post-graduation in corruption. That is why, the basic change won't come by merely changing the rulers. People who can bring radical change in the state and country will have to be sent to the Legislature and Lok Sabha," Hazare said in a statement here.

"If any party has fielded a candidate who is corrupt, goonda and a robber, the voters should decide that they will not make the mistake that the party has done." "They (voters) should decide that they will not fall prey to any enticement and then elect corrupt or criminal elements," he said, adding that alert voters are pillars of democracy.

Voters should use the "none of the above" option in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections if they did not find a right candidate with character and clean image, he said. "It often happens that after facing injustice, people decide to teach (parties) a lesson in elections. However, they forget to do so after being treated to a party at a dhaba or after getting Rs 200 or a Rs 500 note," Hazare said.

PTI