The Opposition parties in Maharashtra raised concerns about the use of marker pens on the electors’ fingers instead of indelible ink as voting was underway in 29 municipal corporations in the state on Thursday.
The votes will be counted on Friday.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray said that there had been complaints about the use of marker pens. “If you use a hand sanitiser, the ink disappears,” Thackeray told reporters.
“The entire administration is working for the ruling party,” The Hindu quoted Thackeray as having alleged. “This isn’t a sign of good democracy. This isn’t what we call governance. Everyone should be alert. There’s a limit to misusing power.”
The supporters of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and its ally, the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of the Shiv Sena, “should keep an eye on those re-voting and wiping off the ink”, Raj Thackeray added.
Uddhav Thackeray alleged at a press conference that the Election Commission and the ruling coalition had colluded in the matter. “This is a murder of democracy,” he said.
The Hindu quoted Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant as saying the marker pen’s ink could be removed using nail polish remover.
Talking to reporters, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis gestured rubbing off the marker pen’s ink and asked if it was getting erased.
“The Election Commission should look into this issue and use something else, they can use oil paint if they want, the elections should be impartial,” Fadnavis said. “But creating a ruckus about everything and raising questions is very wrong.”
Mumbai’s Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani said that the administration will investigate complaints related to the use of the marker pens. “Preliminary observation is that the ink on the nail is removable, but the ink on the skin doesn’t get erased,” The Hindu quoted him as saying.
Safeguards in place, creating confusion a malpractice: Poll panel
Reacting to the allegations, the State Election Commission said that attempting to erase the ink applied on an elector’s finger “and thereby trying to create confusion among voters is a malpractice”.
“If it is found that a person has erased the ink from their finger and has come to vote again, appropriate legal action will be taken against them,” ANI quoted the poll panel as saying.
“Even if someone attempts to commit a malpractice by erasing the ink on the finger, the concerned voter cannot vote again,” it said, adding that safeguards are in place to avoid such a scenario.
It added: “Once a voter has cast their vote, a record of it is maintained. Therefore, merely erasing the ink does not enable a voter who has committed such malpractice to vote again. Instructions to remain vigilant in this matter have once again been issued to all concerned authorities.”
Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Thane, Nashik and Navi Mumbai were among the 29 cities where polling was underway on Thursday.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is India’s richest civic body with an annual budget of more than Rs 74,400 crore.
The six major political parties that are in the fray in the polls are the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress, and the two factions of the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party. The parties have entered into several combinations of alliances in the 29 municipal corporations.
Also read: ‘Money and muscle’: Why Opposition workers are crying foul in Maharashtra civic polls
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