State Election Commissioner P.N. Sreenivasachary, who visited the Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd. (MPVL) here on Friday, said that the indelible marker pens may be used for the forthcoming local body polls across the State.
MPVL is a Government of Karnataka undertaking and is the sole supplier of indelible ink for elections held in India ever since the company was established in Mysuru in 1937. It has a history of supplying the indelible ink for elections in many countries across the world and more recently, it came out with the indelible marker pen, which was used during the recent Presidential polls.
Mr. Sreenivasachary told media persons that he wanted to apprise himself of the pros and cons of the marker pen and its cost before it could be approved for use during the local body elections.
“Elections to nearly 100 town municipal councils (TMC) and city municipal councils (CMCs) in the state are slated in September, while another 115 TMCs and CMCs will go to polls during February-March next year. If the marker pens are found to be more convenient than the use of indelible ink, then we may opt for it even if it were to be slightly expensive,” he added.
There are nearly 55,000 polling stations wherein about three crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the TMC and CMC elections. It is reckoned that on an average, most polling stations have about 1,500 voters, while each marker pen can be used for atleast 1,000 voters.
MPVL Chairman H.A.Venkatesh and other officials were present.