EC wants action on ‘false’ snap polls
New Delhi: Acting on a complaint by the Congress on alleged manipulation of opinion polls by some organisations, the Election Commission has asked the Centre to take “appropriate action” in the matter. After discussing with the ministries of Corporate Affairs and Information and Broadcasting, the EC said the matter involves allegations of conspiracy to prepare false polls for publishing misleading information for illegal payments in return. “The allegation is that the organisations have agreed to manipulate the results of opinion polls by tweaking figures for publishing to the general public,” the poll panel noted. The Congress knocked on EC’s doors on Wednesday seeking its intervention to register an FIR, invoke criminal charges and debar those involved.
CPI(M) begins two-day meet on seat-sharing
New Delhi: Having taken a lead role in uniting the left and secular parties, ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections, CPI(M) began a two-day meet on Saturday to discuss poll preparations and review the evolving political situation. The crucial meeting will also debate the broad contours of the CPI(M)’s election manifesto, party sources said. The State units will present reports on the pros and cons of the State-level alliances and seat-sharing arrangements with the left and secular parties to enable the committee to decide as to how many candidates will be nominated and from which constituencies. The party’s manifesto will focus on on issues ranging from checking price rise and unemployment to fighting “disruptive and communal” politics. Maintaining that lok Sabha elections would be a three-way contest, CPI(M) feels that the non-Congress, anti-BJP combine, will be providing an alternative policy trajectory, that could prove to be a political alternative.