OPINION POLL

                               

Till today, it is accepted by all that democracy is the best form of government. A free and fair election is the pre-requisite of any democratic government. Different societies have been adopting different methods and framing laws to ensure flawless elections. Similarly, election campaigns, over the years have also become quite imaginative and colourful so much so that the electioneering period assumes the form of a festive occasion. With the advanced technologies in communications, media also jumped into the field to make it more interesting to attract the attention of the electorate.

In the above backdrop, opinion poll has also emerged as an interesting facet of the electoral propaganda. Through information, electronic media make the programme entertaining as well. In course of TV debate on this topic in several news channels on Nov 5, 2013,  it was informed that opinion poll was tried some 200 years ago. However, both opinion and exit polls were introduced in India on TV by Pronoy Roy in 1980s. It caught the imagination of the voters so much that the psephologists of the country adopted it as a lucrative profession because even the political parties engage them to know the trend. As a result, out of around fifty news channels, some half a dozen of them get conducted ambitious opinion polls and relay for their esteemed viewers. The voters, on the eve of every election – assembly or parliamentary, eagerly wait for opinion polls.

If these voters suddenly learn that the opinion poll has been banned, they are bound to be anguished. In 2004, there was a consensus among the political parties to ban these exercises as they influenced the voters. However, the then Attorney General Soli Sorabji, opined it militating against the freedom of speech/expression and the Bajpayee Govt turned cold-feet. Once again, some months back, the Election Commission requested all political parties to spell out their stand  on this issue. On Oct 21, K.C. Tyagi of the Congress submitted the reply of his party demanding a ban on this pre-poll exercise which often were inaccurate and tendentious. This stirred the hornest’s nest. By now, the BSP, SP and JD/U have also joined this chorus. The BJP and the Left hold it as a frustration of the Congress and an attempt to silence the differing voices.

Now, the question arises, during the last assembly elections, when the opinion polls predicted victory for the Congress in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka etc, the party simply enjoyed the forecast. Now in the Modi wave, when the opinion polls are indicating a bleak future for the Congress, BSP,SP and JD/U, they have joined hands to ban opinion polls. This method prescribes chopping off the head to remove headache. Their logic of such forecasts often misfiring is also not tenable as the commitments in the election manifestoes of political parties are also not 100% accomplished. What about the accuracy of a successful political party which assured to restrain prices within 100 days. Moreover, if opinion polls are objectionable, we should also ban the speeches by politicians who make tall claims to the public and just ignore their fulfillment after the electoral victory. The debate is still hot and the voters should not shirk strongly highlighting their views.