As the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls for 91 constituencies began on Thursday (April 11), a number of voters took to Twitter, posting photos of faded indelible ink marks on their fingers.
The indelible ink that contains silver nitrate stains the skin on exposure to sunlight and is used to mark the left hand index finger of the voters to indicate that they have cast their vote. As the name suggests, it cannot be washed off and will only disappear when new skin cells replace the dead skin.
However, on Thursday many on Twitter alleged that they were able to remove the ink with the help of a nail polish remover or with the use of soap.
This is after one wash. So much for the “indelible ink”! Elections are sure going to be fun. #Elections2019 #DanceOfDemocracy #FirstPhase #VotingRound1 #inkedup
- Smriti Singh
Sameeksha Khare, a journalist with the Quint raised the issue on Thursday morning. She tweeted: The indelible ink, as the name suggests, cannot be removed. So was the batch in my polling booth faulty?
In a few hours, other users also claimed similar incidents.
Since @sameeksha had this experience with the indelible ink this morning, I decided to check right after voting at the sector 41 booth in noida – it just took some nail polish remover to remover the ink mark @spokespersonECI.
- Ritu Kapur
#LokSabhaElections2019 btw, the indelible ink has already vanished from my nail.
- Ra Ch Na
The purple coloured ink is manufactured by Mysore Paints and Varnish Limited, a Karnataka government undertaking. It is the only authorised manufacturer of election ink.
According to the Election Commission, 2.6 million bottles of 10 ml indelible ink for 900 million voters will be used in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections that would be held in seven phases across the country.
In another incident, the National Conference and the PDP alleged that uniformed personnel “coerced” people to vote for the BJP and that EVMs malfunctioned in some places with Congress button not working in Jammu’s Poonch area, reported PTI.