JOIN USWhile many people were seen flaunting their inked thumb on various social networking websites, there were many others who were agitated and posting their complaint on the Election Commission website that the indelible ink had vanished from their thumb soon after voting.
Molancha Hore, a resident of Hennur Cross, cast his vote in Bangalore Central constituency along with his family members. But to his surprise, the ink vanished after a while. “I, along with my family members, voted and came home. After a while, I went for a shower and saw that the ink had washed off. My father is a doctor, accidentally some surgical solution fell on his thumb and the ink vanished.”
The shocked family has filed a complaint with the EC on its website. “We have filed the complaint and are awaiting some reaction. The automated reply we received was that we will get a response within 15 days. Ideally, the ink does not vanish but I am shocked with this,” he added.
Another case was of Shikha K, a resident of Magadi Road who voted in Sunkadakatte. The ink wiped off as she touched her dupatta after casting her vote. Like her, there are many others. But they have not complained to the EC about it as they did not know the procedure.
Reacting to the situation, Chief Electoral Officer Anil Kumar Jha said that they have received some complaints and many such were received during the last elections as well. Usually, the quality of the ink is checked before being taken randomly. There could be some problem somewhere with the ink. We will look into the quality issue now.
Commenting on the quality of the ink, an official from Mysore Paints and Varnish Limited, which manufactures the indelible ink and supply it to the entire nation, said: “We have not received any complaints so far. If the EC has received any complaints, they should inform us. The ink will not disappear. It is photo-sensitive and will reappear again. The ink will remain for at least a month once applied.”