“Election commission gaslighting citizens is how trust has collapsed in our democracy,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, sharing an article on the use of removable ink at poll booths.
The use of non-indelible ink, voters not being able to find their names on the lists, and allegations of cash distribution remain burning issues as votes are being counted in one of the most keenly watched civic contests in the county.
The elections to 2,869 seats, across 893 wards in Maharashtra, took place a day ago. Among civic bodies which went to polls are Mumbai’s Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli and Mira Bhayandar, and others.
These elections have been keenly watched because of a number of factors. While many civic bodies were going to polls after significant gaps – some after eight to nine years – issues of urban governance took a backseat this time as communalisation took centre-stage.
Noteworthy also was the fact that alliances took on new meaning in some seats – with parties across the purported ideological divide joining hands in some seats.
When it came to the BMC – often called the world’s richest civic body – the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti alliance led in 109 to 116 wards by the early afternoon. A party will need control over 114 wards to control the BMC.
The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Bal Thackeray)-Maharashtra Navnirman Sena combine is currently with 70 leads. The Congress is ahead in 13 wards.
As The Wire reported a day ago, polling in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections sparked controversy after many claimed that officials were using a marker for voters instead of the usual practice of marking fingers with indelible ink. Videos showed voters purportedly removing the marks with sanitiser or nail polish remover. As opposition parties alleged voter fraud, State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare shifted from denial to damage control, promising a probe into ink composition, especially silver nitrate content, and seeking clarification from the ink supplier Kores. He said that procurement details were not immediately available, Midday reported. Opposition leaders called it an attack on democracy, while the BJP and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis dismissed the claims as baseless.
Sharing the Midday article on X, Rahul Gandhi said, “Election commission gaslighting citizens is how trust has collapsed in our democracy. Vote Chori is an anti-national act.”
India Today has reported, meanwhile, that party workers have been going door to door with cash.
A report quoted a resident of New Panvel saying that two men entered a gated high-rise community and offered cash. “When I opened the door, two men stood there. They took my husband’s name and said they had come to hand over money for the local civic body voting scheduled for January 15,” the resident was quoted as having said.
She later learnt from a neighbour that the envelopes being distributed contained Rs 2,000 for each household, the report said.
Nationalist Congress Party’s Anish Gawande wrote on X that across Maharashtra, voters have been unable to find their names on physical voter lists. Some also noted that relevant websites were down. ANI quoted a voter as having said, “The number we found on the internet does not match here. This is organisational failure… I have to go without casting my vote…”
(This article was first published in The Wire)
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