00:00Uddhav and Raj Thakre have launched a big charge amid Mumbai's high-stakes civic polls,
00:23alleging large-scale voter fraud.
00:25The Thakre brothers claim that the indelible ink used during voting is being deliberately wiped off to create confusion and enable malpractice.
00:34They call it ink fraud.
00:36Uddhav Thakre even cited a clip allegedly showing indelible ink being erased from a voter's finger,
00:42raising questions over the integrity of the polling process.
00:46However, the State Election Commission has firmly rejected the elections.
00:50The poll body clarified that attempting to erase the indelible ink is a malpractice
00:56and strict legal action will be taken against anyone trying to vote again after doing so.
01:02The Commission also stressed that erasing ink does not allow repeat of voting.
01:08Once a voter casts their ballot, their record is digitally registered, making double voting impossible.
01:14Officials added that clear instructions are already in place for applying the ink using a marker pen
01:20on both the fingernail and the skin above it.
01:23Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also showed on live camera that he tried to remove the ink,
01:29but he wasn't able to, questioning the opposition's intention.
01:33Now, Deputy Chief Minister Eknachande also rejected these allegations,
01:37saying there is no evidence of manipulation and that the election process is being conducted fairly.
01:44I was asked to say,
02:14foreign
02:44I am going to get a pain.
02:45I am going to get a pain.
02:46What can you do to get out of the way?
02:48You can get out of the way and get out of the way.
02:51I have put a marker to my local.
02:55Let me see it.
02:57I am going to get down.
02:59I am going to get down.
03:01It is possible that someone has objection to this.
03:05The election commission should have seen it.
03:07If you want to use it, then you should have done it.
03:09I am going to do it.
03:11I should have done it.
03:13If you want to get out of the way,
03:15you should have done it.
03:16Therefore, the polling agents are in every party.
03:18Every party is in polling agents.
03:20If you know that it is a bogus,
03:23one person has an ID,
03:26one person can ask him to get his information,
03:29one person can ask him to get his information.
03:31This is a bogus.
03:32The other person asks him to ask him to get out of the way.
03:34So, it is not going to do bogus voting.
03:38It is not going to happen.
03:40And joining us on this issue is India Today's Vidya.
03:50Vidya, while the politics may play out on this issue,
03:52what is more important to understand is what the State Election Commission says about it.
03:57About the ink, about the act of erasing it,
04:01and about the possibility of someone trying to vote again.
04:05And the issue is not just voting again on your own name.
04:08This can lead to voting on fake names.
04:11Well, the State Election Commission,
04:18you know, the commissioner Dinesh Vaghmare,
04:21he just spoke about this entire issue and said that,
04:24you know, there seems to be a fake narrative that is being built up,
04:27because there is nothing different from what the ink that is used in a, say,
04:31parliamentary election or assembly election,
04:33is the same silver nitrate that is used then and even now.
04:36And it's not the first time that marker pens are being used,
04:40because marker pens with that particular ink have been in use since 2010.
04:44However, what he said was that in case, you know,
04:47they see someone who has erased the ink and has tried to again vote,
04:52that will certainly not be taken down lightly.
04:55And the case would be registered against the person, one.
04:59And secondly, they said that also the fact remains that there is a fake narrative
05:04that is being built up suddenly for this particular election.
05:07And that is not right.
05:08In case they see that this is being done deliberately,
05:11then it would be, you know, taken, they would take cognizance of it
05:15and make sure that, you know, such cases are dealt with iron hand.
05:20But at this point, he very clearly, the Commissioner Bagmare said that, you know,
05:26it takes a few seconds for someone to, you know, for the ink to dry.
05:31So, if someone tries to erase it well before, while inside the, you know, the voting centre,
05:37while it has just been put and...
05:39That was Vidya, who was joining us from Mumbai and telling us what the stand of the ECU on this entire issue is.
05:48But the question remains, as we see the Chief Minister there on their screens,
05:52trying to show that how his ink is not getting wiped off.
05:56The question remains that there are videos that are viral on the social media,
06:00which the Thakres are raising, where people are showing the ink getting wiped off.
06:05So, the cognizance of this matter has been taken by the State Election Commission
06:09and it needs to be investigated whether it is possible to wipe that ink off or not
06:15and whether any sort of malpractice has happened or not.
Comments