Overview
- State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare said bottled ink will replace marker pens for zilla parishad and panchayat samiti voting.
- The SEC has placed orders with Mysore Paints for 1.5 lakh 5 cc bottles and 75,000 10 cc bottles to ensure supply for the rural polls.
- Municipal bodies have been told to submit used and unused marker pens for forensic testing in central and state labs, with results expected within a week.
- The commission maintains the marker ink is indelible after drying and warns that tampering or spreading false claims is a punishable offense.
- Opposition leaders questioned the marker pens and demanded accountability, while officials noted marker-style applicators have been used in state local polls since 2011 to avoid spillage.