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Election commission gaslighting citizens is how trust has collapsed in our democracy. Vote Chori is an anti-national act – Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha
Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) has said it would conduct a thorough probe into the quality of the ‘indelible’ ink in marker pens used for the civic polls, after opposition leaders alleged that the mark on a voter’s finger could be removed easily, enabling bogus voting.
File Picture : ANI/X
Amid the row over the quality of ‘indelible’ ink used in marker pens in Maharashtra civic polls, Congress leader and LoP Rahul Gandhi has asserted that “vote chori is an anti-national act” and accused the Election Commission of gaslighting citizens.
As per media reports, Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) has said it would conduct a thorough probe into the quality of the ‘indelible’ ink in marker pens used for the civic polls, after opposition leaders alleged that the mark on a voter’s finger could be removed easily, enabling bogus voting.
Amid polling for 29 municipal corporations, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, social media was flooded with videos claiming to demonstrate how the ink could be removed using chemicals such as acetone, even as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis dismissed the claims.
Gandhi shared on X a media report on the row which stated that “opposition, voters cry foul over fading ink markers”.
“Election commission gaslighting citizens is how trust has collapsed in our democracy. Vote Chori is an anti-national act,” Gandhi said in his post on X.
Speaking with PTI, State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare said that in view of the controversy, the SEC will not use marker pens for the coming Zilla Parishad elections but revert to the traditional ink — produced by Mysore Paints and Varnish Limited, a company of the Karnataka government — used in assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
“The SEC has decided to conduct a probe…..it will cover not only the ink quality but also the videos which were circulated throughout the day. The probe into videos is to ascertain whether the ink was applied on the finger while voting or in a mischievous way,” Waghmare said.
“We will do a random sampling of marker pens used today across the state and verify the quality of the ink supplied to us. The formula for the quality of the ink is finalised by the Election commission of India and a private company supplied the pens to the SEC,” the state election commissioner said.
“We have been using these pens since 2011 for all local body elections,” he added.