Election Commission clears BJP’s black money opinion poll

The Election Commission of India has not raised any objection to the BJP’s move to hold an opinion poll on black money stashed in banks abroad,across Gujarat,on April 11 and 12. On Tuesday,the office of the State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) had written to the EC,seeking its guidance on whether the BJP could be allowed to conduct such an opinion poll ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat on April 30,and whether this exercise could amount to a violation of code of conduct.

“The EC has raised no objection to the BJP’s move to conduct a state-wide opinion poll on black money lying in banks abroad. The Commission communicated this to us on Friday,” a senior officer in the state CEO’s office told Newsline here this evening.

During the two-day state-wide referendum,BJP workers across Gujarat will obtain views of the general public on whether they agree that black money being held in foreign banks should be brought back to the country so that poor people are benefited and several liabilities of the country are liquidated. The BJP will then collect the “votes” for counting on April 13,and declare the results of the opinion poll the next day. The BJP plans to conduct similar exercises in other states too,where the Lok Sabha polls are scheduled to be held in a phased-manner.