New Delhi: Amid a flurry of exit polls
predicting the outcome of Assembly elections ahead of the
March 6 results, Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi
on Sunday said such surveys should at best be on entertainment
channels.
"Opinion and exit polls should at best be on entertainment
channels!," Quraishi tweeted this afternoon, taking a dig at
the surveys.
The reaction of the CEC, who made his Twitter debut on
February 29, came as television channels were busy predicting
government formations and possible political fallouts of the
current assembly elections in the five states of Uttar
Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur since the
exercise ended yesterday.
The Election Commission had banned exit polls till March
3, till the completion of Assembly elections in the five
states.
Quraishi brushed aside criticism of the poll body on
the notices and action taken against some ministers during the
high voltage campaign, saying it was part of the game and the
EC has taken it in its stride.
He, however, expressed anguish at people accusing the EC
of "bias."
"It hurts when people accuse me of bias," he said here
today.
The CEC had earlier refused to comment on speculation
about election results and possible political alliances,
saying, "when elections end, politics starts.
"Our job is to conduct free and fair polls. And, we have
done our job pretty well," he said.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, March 04, 2012, 18:37