New Delhi: The Election Commission is going to forward to the Law Ministry a proposal to prohibit conducting of opinion polls and dissemination of results thereof during the period starting from date of notification of an election and till the completion of election process.
The ruling party Indian National Congress has supported the move to ban opinion polls, but the main opposition party BJP has said that opinion polls are part of free speech.
BJP's Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said any such move to ban opinion polls will be tantamount to curbing the freedom of speech and expression granted as fundamental right in the Constitution.
The Congress, on its part, has said that there was need to ban opinion polls which are published and telecast in order to sway the mood of voters.
