Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, criticized the Election Commission of India, accusing it of undermining public trust in democracy by allegedly enabling vote theft. This criticism followed the commencement of vote counting for 29 civic body elections in Maharashtra, including the BMC. The Congress party has persistently raised concerns about voter fraud to discredit the poll panel.
The BJP swiftly responded to Gandhi’s accusations, labeling them as a tactic to divert attention from an anticipated defeat and shift blame to the Election Commission. In a tweet, Gandhi accused the Election Commission of gaslighting citizens, leading to a collapse of trust in democracy, and described vote theft as an anti-national act.
Amidst the ongoing allegations, the BJP defended the polling process, suggesting that the opposition’s claims were a result of their imminent defeat in the BMC and other civic bodies in Maharashtra. Shehzad Poonawala criticized Gandhi-led opposition as the “bahana brigade,” accusing them of discrediting, distorting, and misinforming.
The BJP spokesperson emphasized that despite the ink controversy warranting an investigation, no instances of fraud were reported during Thursday’s polling. The opposition, including local Congress leaders, raised concerns about the use of markers instead of ink at polling booths, with claims that the marks could be easily erased with sanitizer.
As the controversy escalated, the State Election Commission initiated a probe into the matter, responding to claims that the indelible ink used on voters was erasable. It assured the media that the same standard ink was used in the BMC elections and that a thorough investigation would be conducted to address the viral video claims.
