I've spent the week in neighbouring Nepal, but the conversations have been the same as at home: the Indian elections. There is real concern and anxiety about the naked fascism now in the utterances of the ruling party: declarations of ethnic cleansing, terming communities insects. Some are strongly opposed to the BJP's politics of fundamentalism and violence, others, who once supported the party, are now strongly disillusioned by their failure to deliver things other than rhetoric and rhyming slogans. On the other hand, the opposition, dispersed, frequently going with a political discourse of "you're badder than me", only occasionally inspiring, seems like a weak proposition. In this scenario, I have heard more and more people say "I will vote NOTA", the option to choose None of the Above.

Of all the political choices one could make, NOTA is the least political because it is, in fact, not a real political choice. Like the exhortation to "vote for anyone but BJP, except I won't tell you who", like the "we'll support the government from outside" and like the person who is "saving it for marriage", NOTA exhibits purity, and is shot through with an unwillingness to choose and lose, and to build options gradually.