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India Minister Now Walking Back Comment Promoting Election Fraud

Sharad Pawar told voters to "wipe off the ink on your finger or it could lead to trouble" while voting twice. Many were unamused.
Photo via Hindustan Times

A leader in the biggest democracy in the world has encouraged the country’s voters to commit election fraud in the upcoming elections on April 7.

In a speech to a rally of supporters on Sunday, the Indian agriculture minister Sharad Pawar urged voters to take advantage of the two separate polling locations in his district by voting twice for his Nationalist Congress party.

Pawar, who is the leader of the NCP, told supporters to wash the ink off their hands after they cast their ballot and then come back to a different constituency to vote for his party again. “Vote for NCP in Satara then come to vote in Mumbai but make sure to wipe off the ink on your finger or it could lead to trouble, " Pawar said on Sunday.

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Pawar’s opponents and the Indian media were quick to jump on the remarks. In particular the Aam Aadmi Party, which runs on a platform of fighting corruption, vowed to bring the incident to the attention of the Indian Election Commission.

Pawar soon backtracked on his remarks, saying they were merely a joke to lighten the mood of the usual “clichéd electoral speeches.” A spokesperson for the NCP reiterated this by saying Pawer “does not want anyone to violate the rules and regulations of the elections. He does not encourage bogus voting.”

India’s Election Commission, however, did not find it so funny. The Election Commission called it a violation of the model code of conduct and asked Pawar to explain his remarks by no later than 5PM this Wednesday.

Apparently, hinting at voting twice for the same party is a touchy subject in India, where electoral fraud and corruption is common, and has been reported in past elections.

The upcoming Lok Sabha elections for India’s 543-seat Parliament are set to begin next month and will continue in nine phases until May 12. They will be the longest in the country’s history and have an electorate of 814.5 million people, the largest in the world to date. Corruption is a main concern for both voters and politicians alike, and voter fraud will likely be closely monitored by the Election Commission.