A day after the polling for Phase I of the Bihar Assembly Election 2025 concluded, a questionable video surfaced which showed LJP MP from Samastipur, Shambhavi Chaudhary, with ink marks on both hands. The video, which was recorded outside a polling booth, has gone viral on social media and has subsequently drawn a lot of criticism from the opposition.
In the video, the LJP MP first raised her right hand finger with the ink mark and then quickly switched to her left hand after her father signalled with his eyes. As the video became viral, the LJP MP came out in her defence and released a video where she said the incident occurred unintentionally and was the result of a ‘human error’.
The District Administration of Patna responded to the video, which was posted by the RJD national spokesperson, and clarified that the mistake was an unintentional human error by the polling staff of Bankipur Assembly Constituency. According to the officials, the polling officer first applied ink on the right hand, which was rectified to the left hand after the intervention of the Presiding officer.
“A video is being circulated on social media regarding ink marks on both fingers of the Honorable MP Shambhavi after casting her vote. In this connection, the polling staff responsible has clarified that the polling officer responsible for applying ink had mistakenly applied it to the finger of the right hand. After the intervention of the Presiding Officer, ink was also applied to the finger of the left hand,” the post said.
The post further stated that the LJP MP cast her vote only once at Serial No. 275 in the Bankipur Assembly Constituency (182) at Saint Paul’s Primary School in Buddha Colony.
Mahagathbandhan Calls It ‘Fraud’
Reacting to the video, the RJD national spokesperson, Kanchana Yadav, wrote on her official X (formerly Twitter) account, “This is a whole different level of fraud going on. These are LJP MP Shambhavi Chaudhary. Ink is applied to both hands. Meaning, they voted twice. When this matter came to light, her father Ashok Chaudhary signaled her with eye gestures. Election Commission, how is all this happening? Who will investigate this?”
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Meanwhile, the Congress posted an image of the LJP MP with ink marks on the left and right placed adjacent to each other with an acrimonious caption, ‘Played Amazingly!’
The CPI(ML), an ally in the Mahagathbandhan, wrote on their official X (formerly Twitter), “We’ve all heard the saying about having laddoos in both hands, but Bihar NDA MP Shambhavi Chaudhary seems to have taken it to another level, with voting ink on both! Anything goes these days?”