Amid talks over credibility of opinion polls, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday supported Congress’ demand for regulating them during elections, saying such surveys lack credibility as they are not conducted in a transparent way.
Dikshit said opinion polls do not reflect the ground reality and there is a need to examine the issue carefully as results of the surveys can influence voters. “The results of the opinion polls are not factually correct. They are not conducted in a transparent way. Often the wrong message reaches people because of these surveys,” she said replying to a question on straw polls.
A number of opinion polls in the last one month predicted a hung House for Delhi in the December 4 Assembly polls as most of them projected that neither the BJP nor Congress will get majority on its own. Some opinion polls have projected that AAP may eat into Congress’ vote share and even predicted significant number of seats for it in the 70-member Delhi Assembly.
Questioning reliability of the opinion polls, Dikshit said there was scope for “manipulation” of the results by vested interests. “We cannot rely on opinion polls as there may be so many things behind these surveys. I do not think they reflect the real picture. There was a need to examine the issue,” she said. The Election Commission had sought views of various parties on banning opinion polls after the Government asked it to do so.