Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday alleged that the Election Commission was “gaslighting citizens”, highlighting a controversy over the alleged use of erasable ink during Maharashtra’s local body elections.
Sharing a newspaper report on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, the Congress leader wrote: “Election commission gaslighting citizens is how trust has collapsed in our democracy. Vote Chori is an anti-national act.”
Gaslighting is a term used to describe psychological manipulation where people are made to doubt their own experience or perception of reality.
The word in its gerund form was first used in a 1995 New York Times column by Maureen Dowd, per Wikipedia, but it gained widespread currency much later and the Oxford University Press named it a runner-up in its list of the most popular new words of 2018.
Rahul Gandhi’s comment came amid mounting allegations from opposition parties and voters that marker pens, rather than standard indelible ink, were used to mark voters’ fingers in parts of Maharashtra.
Several voters who participated in the civic polls claimed that the ink marks could be wiped off after voting.
The Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) on Thursday ordered an inquiry into complaints related to the alleged use of erasable ink and warned of action against those it accused of “creating confusion”.
The move followed public allegations by Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, who accused state election commissioner Dinesh Waghmare of “openly siding” with the ruling BJP-led alliance and demanded his suspension.
Waghmare announced that an inquiry would be conducted into the complaints and rejected claims that acetone or nail polish could remove the indelible ink used in the polls.
He also warned that anyone attempting to remove the ink or spread confusion among voters would face legal action.
In Pune, following reports that a cleaner capable of removing voting ink marks had been found, deputy CM Ajit Pawar led his NCP workers to a BJP office where they seized some bottles, according to The New Indian Express.
NCP leader Rupali Chakankar claimed bottles of the ink cleaner had been recovered.
“We informed the police and hope the action will be taken against the culprit,” she was quoted as saying in The New Indian Express.
In areas under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as well, where voters claimed that the ink marks on their fingers could be wiped off after voting.
Responding to the accusations, Mumbai municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani said the authorities would examine all complaints related to the use of ink.
“We will probe all the complaints related to the use of ink. Preliminary observation is that the ink on the nail is removable, but the ink on the skin doesn’t get erased,” he said.
Before ordering the formal inquiry, the Maharashtra SEC issued a clarification and warned that attempts to remove indelible ink applied to voters’ fingers are illegal.
“Attempts to remove the indelible ink applied on voters’ fingers at polling stations and thereby create confusion in the voting process are illegal. The State Election Commission has clarified that if any person is found trying to vote again after removing the ink mark, appropriate legal action will be taken against them,” the SEC said in a statement.