A controversy has surfaced over the marking of voters’ fingers during Maharashtra’s local body elections, with opposition parties alleging that marker pens are being used instead of indelible ink, a move they claim could facilitate electoral malpractice.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray questioned the integrity of the election process, accusing the government of manipulating systems to secure electoral victories.
"They (the government) don't want the Opposition parties. The entire administration is being run by the government (to win the polls). This is not the sign of a healthy democracy. There is a limit to misuse of power," Thackeray said. He asked his party workers to stay alert against any malpractices by rival parties in the polls.
Objecting specifically to the alleged use of marker pens, he added, “Now they are using marker pens instead of ink used. This is unacceptable. Such fraud elections are of no use.”
Thackeray further raised concerns over what he described as the introduction of new mechanisms without adequate consultation with political parties.
Referring to issues of bogus and double voting, as well as the VVPAT system, he alleged that additional devices such as PADU units were being brought in unilaterally. “We raised bogus and double voters and the VVPAT issue. Now they have brought some PADU units. We will not let that happen. We are not taken into consideration before using such devices,” he said.
In Pune, it was reported that the voting ink mark cleaner was found at the BJP offices. After this report, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar led NCP workers who barged into the BJP office and seized the bottles that were being used to clean the voting mark. The youths who were at the BJP offices were found cleaning the ink mark on the women voters, and they were asked to recast their votes.
Rupali Chakankar, the NCP leader, confirmed these reports and said that they got several bottles from the BJP offices. “We informed the police and hope the action will be taken against the culprit,” she said, showing the video where ink cleaner was used in the BJP office.
Meanwhile, there was chaos at the polling booth. Many people could not find their names at the given polling booth, and most of the voters' names were missing. The voters complained that they voted in the last Lok Sabha and state assembly elections, but their names are missing in civic body elections.
The allegations come amid reports from voters who participated in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, some of whom claimed that the ink mark on their fingers could be wiped off after voting.
Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani in response to the accusations, has said, “We will probe all the complaints related to the use of ink. Preliminary observation is that the ink on the nail is removable, but the ink on the skin doesn’t get erased.”
Poll body warns of legal action against bogus voters
The Maharashtra State Election Commission issued a note asking the returning officers to apply the ink multiple times on the skin and nail of the finger so that it cannot be wiped out easily.
The poll body stated that action would be taken against those voters involved in erasing the ink and recasting votes.
“It is an offence to cast the votes twice. It is a criminal offence to do bogus voting. Legal action will be taken against such voters. The vigilance has been increased to prevent bogus voting. Proper name and address checking will take place at polling booths,” stated in the election commission note.
According to this order, the ink should be applied with a marker pen in such a way that it stands out clearly on the voter's finger. “The instructions have been given to returning officers earlier to apply ink by rubbing it on the nail and the skin above the nail three to four times, and this has also been mentioned on the marker pen,” it stated.