Congress MP Rahul Gandhi  accused the Election Commission of “gaslighting” citizens amid a row over the quality of ‘indelible’ ink used in marker pens in Maharashtra civic body polls. 

His reaction came after opposition leaders, after voting in municipal corporation elections on Thursday, alleged that the ink mark on the finger can be easily wiped off.

“Election commission gaslighting citizens is how trust has collapsed in our democracy. Vote Chori (theft) is an anti-national act,” Gandhi said in a post on X.

The Maharashtra State Election Commission has said it would conduct a probe into the quality of the ‘indelible’ ink in marker pens, which it said have been used since 2011 for all local body 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,” State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare told the news agency PTI.

“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,” he said.

Mumbai Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Varsha Gaikwad had shared a video of her party colleague using acetone to wipe off the ink from his finger.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray and his cousin, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, had also raised the issue after voting for the Mumbai civic body polls.

BJP’s Reaction

The BJP responded to Rahul Gandhi’s charge and accused him of misleading people by discrediting the Maharashtra civic poll process.

“Bahana (excuse) brigade back! Accepting defeat before counting ends? Rahul back to doing what he does best — discredit, distort and disinform. ‘Khandani chor’ now regurgitating claims of Thackerays,” BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla wrote on X. 

He also asked what came out of Gandhi’s ‘vote chori’ allegations on the Bihar assembly elections, which were held last year.

The BJP has repeatedly rejected Gandhi’s vote theft allegation, calling it “baseless” and an attempt at “hiding his failures”.
Maharashtra Civic Poll Results