Opposing a ban on opinion polls, the Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday sought transparency and a regulatory framework for conduct of such polls. In case of dispute on the findings, the surveying agency should share raw data.
“The Congress is scared that public opinion is not in its favour and would use this opportunity to ban opinion polls but that is not the solution to the big opinion polls scam that has been revealed in a television sting operation,” the party said.
Alleging a “conspiracy to manipulate public opinion,” the party questioned the role of a section of media houses that “partnered the political conspiracy” and asked the News Broadcasters Standards Authority and the Editors Guild of India to conduct an enquiry into it.
“The political conspiracy that challenges the very foundations of our democracy needs to be investigated,” the party said, demanding a criminal investigation by a Special Investigative Team.
Addressing a joint press conference here with Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal raised doubts about a flurry of election opinion polls in the last few weeks that show successive higher seat projections for the BJP in the Lok Sabha election.
“This is just as it was being done before the Delhi elections,” he said.
If the sting was true it was “the darkest hour” for the media, he said and demanded that media houses should disclose their list of share holders, investors, lenders, annual financial statements and their political affiliations and any other business interests outside media.
