Maha Election Commissioner, BJP & BMC reject allegations of fading ink on voters’ fingers

After several voters complained that the ink marks on their fingers faded or got erased after voting in the BMC polls on Thursday, Maharashtra State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare said that the ink, made from silver nitrate, is the same as that used by the Election Commission of India.

The Maharashtra State Election Commission also issued a statement that orders regarding the use of marker pens to apply ‘indelible’ ink on voters’ fingers were issued on November 19, 2011, and November 28, 2011.

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Leaders of opposition parties, including the Congress, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, and the Aam Aadmi Party, issued statements complaining that the ink used to mark voters’ fingers faded quickly.

Responding to these statements, BJP leader and Maharashtra’s Minister of Cultural Affairs Ashish Shelar demanded strict action against those attempting to wipe off ink from their fingers after exercising their franchise, claiming they were trying to facilitate bogus voting and undermine the sanctity of the electoral process.

“People who are wiping off ink are attempting bogus voting. A criminal case must be registered against them and a thorough probe should be conducted. Strict action is necessary to protect the sanctity of elections and to ascertain the real motive behind creating confusion over the ink. Remarks against the Election Commission are irresponsible, and casting aspersions on the constitutional body amounted to weakening the democratic process,” Shelar said, adding that allegations are being politicised instead of being pursued through legal channels.

Several voters from across booths in suburban Mumbai’s Goregaon, Andheri, Malad, Powai, and Kandivali alleged that election officials used ordinary marker pens to ink fingers after votes were cast. With no prior notification about such a deviation from the standard practice of using only government-manufactured indelible ink, voters raised questions about the election procedure. Similar incidents of ink marks on voters’ fingers getting easily erased were reported from Kolhapur and Pune districts.

Responding to concerns raised by political leaders, Waghmare stated, “If anybody tampers and votes again, then we will register the case.” He reiterated that the ink has been in use since 2010 and dismissed claims of it being easily removable as a “fake narrative”. The Maharashtra State Election Commission has warned that FIRs will be filed against individuals attempting to remove the ink for “engaging in electoral malpractices”.

Responding to videos posted on social media and several online claims, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) also issued a statement rejecting all allegations and media reports as “factually incorrect”.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani had earlier admitted that ink marks on voters’ fingers had faded on the fingernail area but not on the skin area. Responding to complaints and allegations by voters, Gagrani said, “We will probe all complaints related to the use of ink. Preliminary observation suggests that the ink on the nail is removable, but the ink on the skin cannot be erased.”

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis defended the use of marker pens by Election Commission officials while speaking to media persons in Nagpur on Thursday after casting his vote. He said, “All these things are decided by the Election Commission. Marker pens have been used many times before. If anyone objects to this, the Election Commission should pay attention to this matter. But I think some people are deliberately commenting today, predicting tomorrow’s results. This clearly shows that they (opposition parties) are preparing to blame someone after tomorrow’s results”.

However, in Mumbai, Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Working President Ruben Mascarenhas formally registered a complaint with the Maharashtra State Election Commission, hours after voting began in Mumbai on Thursday morning, about supposedly ‘indelible’ ink easily coming off the fingers of those who cast their votes for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.

“Ink marks being made on voters’ fingers by using marker pens instead of government-manufactured indelible ink are easily erased by using nail polish remover, as I demonstrate in this video. Totally Unacceptable. Elections are being reduced to a farce,” Aam Aadmi Party’s Working President Ruben Mascarenhas tweeted on his @rubenmasc X account, along with a video.

Sharad Pawar-led NCP Working President and Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule said, “In many locations, people are being made to wipe off the ink on their fingers after voting. This raises a grave question. Could this be for bogus voting? There are still glitches in the polling stations and their numbering, with instances found where candidates’ names were incorrect on some EVMs. Incidents of open distribution of money outside polling stations are also coming to light.”

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said, “This is the first election where we are receiving a lot of complaints. For example, the ink applied to voters’ fingers can be removed immediately, which is a serious issue.”

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) founder and chief Raj Thackeray, while speaking to media persons after casting his vote at the Balmohan School polling booth in Dadar on Thursday, expressed his anger about the functioning of the Election Commission and said, “Presently, the entire administration and machinery is working to elect the ruling party. Earlier, indelible ink was applied to voters’ fingers after voting, but now voters’ fingers are being marked with markers. The ink applied with the marker is getting wiped off after using hand sanitiser. Wiping off the ink from fingers and voting illegally again cannot be called development. The entire administration is working like this for power. We are working to stop all this. But all these things are not a sign of a good democracy. Coming to power like this is not called victory.”

“The ruling party has decided to win the elections by any means. When we raised the issue of double voters, the Election Commission said they had nothing to do with it. After that, we also raised the issue of VVPATs. Since there are no VVPAT machines this time, we do not know whether the vote we cast went to our own candidate or not. Now the Election Commission has deployed Printing Auxiliary Display Unit (PADU) machines, which will be used while counting votes. The government has decided that there should be no opposition party left,” Raj Thackeray said.

Mumbai Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Varsha Gaikwad shared a video on X, showing her party colleague using acetone to remove the ink mark from his finger. She tweeted, “BMC wiping off accountability? Since morning, we have been receiving several reports of how the marker ink being used to show voting has been done is easily wiped off. My colleague and his wife here demonstrate how this ink can be easily removed with acetone or nail polish remover.”

“The management of the #BMCElection2026 this time raises several questions about accountability and transparency. Various last-minute bribes to voters have gone unchecked, names of voters are missing, and the SEC website has crashed, making it difficult for voters to find their names. The ink is also being easily wiped off. The faith of the people in our democratic process must be protected at all costs, but the Election Commission and the BMC seem completely unbothered. Shame!”