Not competent authority to ban opinion polls: Election Commission

While the Congress party has already issued a directive asking its spokespersons not to attend any pre-poll surveys, the Election Commission on Thursday said it does not have the power to issue a blanket ban on opinion polls and only the government could issue such a directive. Speaking to CNN-IBN, Election Commission HS Brahma had said that the commission was not the competent authority to take such a decision. “The Election Commission cannot take a final view on opinion polls. We are not competent to take a call on this. The order of such a nature has to come from the Law Ministry,” he said. "Our job is to obtain views and is limited to that. Like it was done on the exit polls. The call was taken by the government," he said “48 hours before polling there is a ban. That’s the law of the land. Whether to ban poll surveys or not is the call of the government,” he said. The commission had asked all political parties in the country to send their opinions on banning the process. Barring CPI, all national recognised political parties, have sent their views and suggestions on the issue, only nine regional parties have sent their comments to the Commission. “We have not got a response from all political parties on opinion polls. We will take a call on the issue only after holding more consultations with parties,” Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath had told reporters in New Delhi on Friday. The Commission had written to all recognised national and state parties to send their views on he proposed ban on opinion polls after the government asked it to hold fresh consultations on the issue. A number of political parties have responded positively to the EC proposal, with Congress leading the bandwagon in seeking a ban or regulation on opinion polls during the election process. BJP is the only party that has vehemently opposed the ban saying it would go against the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression. The main opposition party also alleged that the Congress was favouring prohibition of opinion polls as it feared defeat. The Election Commission proposal has already triggered a major debate on the way opinion polls are conducted as BJP is widely projected by pre-poll surveys to do well in the forthcoming assembly polls and is thus exploiting it to its advantage. It has attacked the Congress for its demand saying, a “loser” cannot seek to alter the rules of the game. With PTI inputs