3 minutes of readingPuneJanuary 15, 2026 17:21 IST
Amid accusations from opposition parties, including the MNS and Congress, that voters were being marked with markers instead of indelible ink During the Maharashtra municipal corporation elections on Thursday, the State Election Commission clarified that indelible ink was being applied on the index fingers of voters and could not be erased immediately.
“During the ongoing municipal elections, a lot of confusion is being created that the marker ink can be erased… I want to state that we are using indelible ink, which is also used by the Election Commission of India. However, this indelible ink comes in a marker pen. The State Election Commission has been using this marker pen since 2011,” Dinesh Waghmare, state election commissioner, said in a statement.
“The ink from the marker cannot be erased… It dries in 10 to 15 seconds. And during those seconds, the voter remains in the voting center after it is applied to the finger… Doubts arise and videos circulate among the people to create confusion.”
Waghmare said when a voter arrives at the polling station, candidate representatives help identify them. “After this, the voter can exercise his right to vote. If the representatives have any complaint, they can register it with the president. If a voter votes again and if the representatives of the candidates and the president object, then an investigation can be carried out against the voter,” he said.
Speaking to reporters after casting his vote in Dadar, Raj Thackeray, chief of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, alleged that the mark on voters’ fingers could be cleaned with a disinfectant and said the system was being misused to benefit the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
“People come out, wipe the ink off, and come back in to vote. Then they come out, wipe it off again, and come back in. Is this what the government calls development?” asked.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra Congress Legislative Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar, Shiv Sena MLC Anil Parab and Yuva Sena leader Sainath Durge also leveled the same allegation that the marker used to apply ink on voters’ fingers could be easily erased.
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Activist Vijay Kumbhar said, “Not only the erasure of finger ink but also several complaints about the voting process have emerged among voters in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad…The State Election Commission has been found wanting.”