Sting op on opinion polls, India Today Group suspends survey

A TV news channel today claimed that a sting operation conducted by it had shown that some of the agencies which conduct opinion polls before elections are willing to tweak their findings for money.
At a press conference held here, the channel, News Express, claimed that its sting operation had "exposed" eleven agencies which conducted opinion polls. It, however, added that some opinion poll agencies it tried to contact did not respond. The Lok Sabha elections are due by May.
The channel's Editor-in-Chief Vinod Kapri said it was showing the sting operation in order to make the voter aware and added that it would also provide details to the Election Commission.

When asked whether the sting operation has brought to light anything suspicious related to involvement of any political party, the channel did not name any specific survey or any party.
Shortly after the sting operation, the India Today Group tonight suspended all opinion polls being carried out by C-Voter polling agency for it in the wake of the allegations levelled in the sting on the conduct of some of the agencies.
In a statement, the Group said it has taken cognisance of the investigation and was examining the allegations levelled in the sting very seriously.

In the interim, the Group said it was suspending all opinion polls being carried out by C-Voter.

The Group has contracted C-Voter News Services Private Limited for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections to conduct various opinion polls for it.
The statement said a show-cause notice is also being sent to C-Voter seeking a response on the charges levelled by the news channel.
"The credibility of what we publish is of paramount importance to our group and we will not accept any misconduct by any agency which has been contracted by our organisation," it added.