India, Jan. 16 -- Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused the Election Commission of "gaslighting citizens" after claims surfaced that marker pens were used to ink voters' fingers during Maharashtra civic polls, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election.

"Election commission gaslighting citizens is how trust has collapsed in our democracy. Vote Chori is an anti-national act," Rahul Gandhi in a post on X said.

The opposition, led by Rahul Gandhi and the Shiv Sena (UBT), has raised serious allegations of 'vote chori' (vote theft), citing malfunctioning EVMs and the controversial use of marker pens instead of indelible ink.

Vote counting was held for 29 municipal corpo...