Manipulated opinion polls are 'paid news', CPI complains to EC

Terming manipulated opinion polls as "paid news", CPI today sought reasonable restrictions to ensure that such surveys are not misused.
"There should be reasonable restrictions so that they (opinion polls) cannot be manipulated or misused by interested sections for a price," CPI General Secretary S Sudhakar Reddy said in a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner.
He cited the opinion polls in 2009, which claimed that a particular political party would get majority, though it proved to be incorrect.
Reddy, however, said opinion polls need not be banned "totally".
CPI's letter to the CEC comes in the wake of a sting operation conducted by a news channel on opinion poll agencies which exposed that 11 such companies agreed to manipulate such surveys for a charge.

"The opinion polls were no where near the reality. Manipulated opinion polls are something like 'paid news'. This is a shame on democracy," Reddy said and demanded action against those who agreed for false opinion polls.
Raising doubts over the "genuineness" of current opinion polls, he urged the Election Commission to take effective steps so that people were not misled.