BJP demands immediate ban on exit poll in Bengal

Kolkata, Apr 19 (UNI) The West Bengal BJP has urged the Election Commission to immediately ban all exit polls in the state.

In a letter to state Chief Electoral Officer(CEO) Debashis Sen, with a copy to Chief Election Commissioner B B Tandon, BJP state president Tathagata Roy condemned the recent trend for conducting exit polls among a section of both electronic and print media and claimed that this was sending wrong signals among the state electorate about the possible outcome of the ongoing Assembly elections.

''It is noted that a section of print and electronic media has carried out what they term as exit poll on the first phase of elections and thereby is extrapolating the election,'' Mr Roy in his letter alleged.

Reiterating his party's demand for summarily banning this trend, the BJP state president alleged that the exit poll results were aimed at misleading the people and inducing them to vote in favour of the ruling parties.

Incidentally, all the exit poll done in print and electronic media had predicted that the ruling Left Front would sweep the poll in their favour with vast majority of voters exercising their franchise in favour of LF candidates in all the three South Bengal districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia in the first phase of polling on April 17.

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