Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday rejected allegations of any alteration in the marks of indelible ink given to voters after voting, saying if the ink was indeed being erased by hands, then the Election Commission should investigate the matter.
Responding to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray’s allegation that a new pen had been replaced with one with indelible ink, Fadnavis said, “It is very wrong to create ruckus and raise questions on everything.”
After casting his vote in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) elections, Fadnavis said, “I have also been marked with a marker, is this the way to erase it? The Election Commission should investigate this matter and adopt some other method, they can use oil paint if they want, elections should be fair. But creating ruckus and raising questions on everything is very wrong.”
The statement came in response to Raj Thackeray’s allegations that the State Election Commission was using a “new pen” due to which the fingerprints of voters were being erased.
Raj Thackeray had said, “The ink used earlier is being replaced with a new pen, and complaints are coming in regarding this new pen. The ink disappears after applying hand sanitizer. Now the only option left is to put the ink, go out, wipe it, then come inside and vote again. A new rule has been implemented for election campaigning.”
Thackeray alleged that this was proof that the government “can do anything to remain in power,” and appealed to alliance workers and others to be “vigilant” about such things, as one person was “caught” voting twice.
He said, “This shows that the government can do anything to remain in power. When someone comes to power through such fraudulent means, we cannot call it an election. I appeal to the public, Shiv Sena workers and Matoshree Sena workers to be alert about all these things. One person was caught voting twice.”
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Fadnavis blamed the attack on BJP worker Bhushan Singh by Congress workers in Nagpur, terming it an “attack on democracy”.
He said, “Congress brutally attacked our party candidate from Nagpur, Bhushan Singh, due to which his arm was broken and his leg and head were injured. Such actions are tantamount to an attack on democracy after losing the elections, but the public will respond to these people as well as those who commented on me. The opposition should now adopt a new strategy. The opposition finding new excuses for its upcoming defeat only confirms our victory.”
He further appealed to the people, saying, “It is a unit of our democracy, which is its cornerstone and hence voting is extremely important. I appeal to everyone to cast their vote, because voting is not only your right but also your duty.”
Apart from Nagpur, elections are being held for 28 other municipal corporations, including India’s richest corporation, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
A total of 1,03,44,315 citizens are eligible to vote in the BMC elections. Of these, 55,16,707 are men, 48,26,509 are women and the number of other voters is 1,099.
Voting for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), India’s richest municipal corporation, began early Thursday with hundreds of voters lining up to exercise their franchise and elect 277 new ward members after a gap of nearly 8 years.
BMC elections got off to a slow start on Thursday, with only 7.12 per cent voting recorded till 9:30 am.
