Ajjoor residents plan to choose NOTA option during elections

The Ajjoor Village Welfare Association have stated that residents of the village plan to stage a protest by choosing the “None of the Above” (NOTA) option during polls later this year.

The villagers are protesting against the decisions of the High Court and the Forest Department to evict them from around 300 acres of land which has been encroached on by the villagers.

In a statement, the association said that despite multiple petitions being raised for grievance redress, RTI petitions being filed, that there was no administrative will to solve the issues plaguing the local residents. The association said the district administration had failed to implement a court order that was passed in 2017 by the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court. They said an RTI response received in 2025 also showed that the survey numbers which have been notified as reserve forest were village grazing lands, they claimed.

The association claimed that the residents had proof of residence in the form of pattas, tax receipts, as well as receipts for payment of electricity and water bills. They said that any plans to evict them from their lands were a violation of basic human rights of the community.

To protest the lack of action in solving the issue, the Association said that they had taken a collective decision by not voting for any party. The residents will choose the NOTA option during the 2026 elections, they announced.

“This is not an election boycott, and is not against democracy. This is a silent protest against administrative negligence,” they said in a statement released to the press and to the Election Commission of India.