The Election Commission (EC) has written to the law ministry reiterating its long-standing proposal for banning publishing and dissemination of opinion poll results from the date of notification of elections. In a communication sent to the law secretary on November 12, the Commission forwarded the views of five national parties and 10 state parties on the proposed ban, submitted to it over the last one month. All the parties, except the BJP, have backed the restrictions proposed by the EC.
The BJP opposed banning of opinion polls, arguing that it would curb the freedom of expression guaranteed in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
In its letter to the law secretary, the Commission submitted a gist of views expressed by five of the six national parties " Congress, BJP, BSP, NCP and CPM " as well as 10 regional parties, namely, Trinamool Congress, AIADMK, DMK, DMDK, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Janata Dal (United), Samajwadi Party, Shiv Sena, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Karnataka Janatha Paksha. The views were communicated to the Commission in reply to its October 4 letter asking six national parties and over 50 recognized state parties to spell out their stance on the EC's long-standing suggestion for restriction on opinion polls "as there could be several manipulated opinion polls which could impact the voting pattern".
The EC had elicited the parties' views as requested by the law ministry on September 24. On November 12, the EC also responded to the law ministry's plea seeking its view on when the opinion poll ban should come into affect. The Commission cited its earlier proposal based on consensus that had emerged at an all-party meeting convened by it on April 6, 2004. "The political parties were then of the unanimous view that publishing the results of opinion poll should be prohibited from the date of notification of election. Accordingly, the proposal made by the Commission was for a provision in the law prohibiting publishing and dissemination of results of opinion poll from the date of notification of election."
Among the national parties, the Congress, BSP, CPM and NCP put their weight behind the EC proposal for opinion poll restrictions. The Congress said opinion poll surveys during elections were neither scientific nor based on a transparent methodology, and could be manipulated by vested interests; the BSP agreed, saying that agencies that are paid to conduct opinion polls are susceptible to being managed to confuse the voters just before the polls. The CPM said that though conducting opinion polls was fine, their results should not be published during a reasonable period before the date of poll and till half an hour after conclusion of poll in all constituencies. The NCP, too, favoured a ban on opinion polls.
The BJP, which had at an all-party meeting in 2004 backed a ban on dissemination of opinion poll results from the date of notification of elections, told the EC that any restriction on opinion polls would fall in the realm of a restriction on the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed in Article 19(a) of the Constitution.
Among the regional parties, SP, AIADMK, DMK, DMDK, IUML, Trinamool Congress, Janata Dal (United) and Karnataka Janatha Paksha endorsed the EC's proposal for restrictions on opinion polls during elections, saying that the results were open to manipulations. Even the two BJP allies, SAD and Shiv Sena, agreed that opinion polls during elections were best banned.