Digvijay Singh backs EC's decision on restricting opinion polls

Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Monday backed Election Commission's (EC) views on restricting publication and dissemination of opinion polls during elections.

"Opinion polls should be stopped. In a state like Madhya Pradesh which has more than 3 crore voters how can you do a survey with just 2800 people? These should be stopped. Anyone can give some money and get the survey done. These people are not even authorised by the government," he said.

"Opinion polls have become a joke and should be stopped," he added.

The EC had earlier sought the views of the political parties on restricting publication and dissemination of opinion polls during elections.

In a written reply to the Commission on October 30, the Congress party said that it "fully endorses the views of the Election Commission of India to restrict publication and dissemination of opinion polls during the election".

The legal department of the Congress Party stated that opinion polls can be misused, and they are not scientific or credible.

The opinion polls have been projecting poor show of the Congress in some states where Assembly Elections are scheduled to take place.