Rahul Gandhi Slams EC Over Indelible Ink Row in Maharashtra

Rahul Gandhi Criticizes Election Commission Amid Maharashtra Ink Controversy Accuses of Gaslighting Citizens

The Maharashtra civic polls ended on Thursday with a major fight over voting ink. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the Election Commission is gaslighting voters. He claims the indelible ink meant to stop double-voting is not permanent.

Many voters posted videos showing they could rub the ink off easily. As officials count the votes for 29 cities today, people are worried about the fairness of the election. This controversy has taken the focus away from local issues like roads and water.

Technical Shift Sparks Integrity Debate

The problem started when officials used marker pens instead of ink bottles. Leaders like Uddhav Thackeray and Rahul Gandhi say this ink comes off with nail polish remover. They fear this will allow some people to vote more than once. The State Election Commission (SEC) says the pens are safe and have been used since 2011. They claim the ink just needs 15 seconds to dry properly.

However, the public remains skeptical. To fix this, the SEC is now investigating the quality of the pens. They also promised to go back to the old, bottled ink for the next elections in February. For now, the focus remains on the counting centers. Everyone wants to see if these "erasable" marks will change the final results of the election.

What are the Consequences of Delayed Maharashtra Civic Polls for Local Governance?

These elections were delayed for 4 years, and so this delay has become a big problem that many people are ignoring. Large cities like Mumbai and Pune were run by state officials instead of elected leaders. This meant that regular people had no one to talk to about local problems. Without corporators, there was no one to check how billions of rupees were being spent on city projects.

This ‘rule by officials’ created a big gap between the government and the people. Residents could not easily report broken streetlights or clogged drains. In six months, the new leaders will have a very hard job. They will have to fix 4 years of neglected local issues. Small businesses are also waiting to see if the new winners will finally listen to their concerns about local taxes and permits.