Opinion View from the LEFT: Opinions on polls

“In the first place,opinion polls are not information. They are,as the name suggests,opinions. And,opinions are meant to influence. By definition,opinions are not neutral information or objective news. Further,in a similar exercise conducted by the Election Commission after the 2004 general elections,the BJP held the exact opposite view arguing for the banning of publication of opinion polls after the statutory notification for elections… Clearly,therefore,the BJP is seeking to influence the voters in an undue fashion before the elections through manipulated opinion polls and if that fails as it did in 2004,then plead for the banning of the publication of such polls! This,in itself,betrays the reality that opinion polls are often used as tools for electoral propaganda…” it adds. While arguing that there should be no blanket banning of opinion polls,the editorial concludes that such surveys “should not be published for a reasonable period,say,from the date of the statutory notification of the election till the polls are completed.”

SAMPLE THIS

An editorial in the CPI(ML)’s ML Update also discusses opinion polls,but notes that the positions of both the Congress and BJP have,at different times,been “opportunist,coloured by whether the opinion polls tend to favour them or not…”

“How can we go beyond the terms of the debate fixed by opportunistic ruling class parties and corporate-funded media,and arrive at a reasonable and democratic opinion on opinion polls?” the editorial asks. It asserts that most opinion polls fail the test of transparency as they do not disclose their sample size and social profile,techniques used,wording and sequence of questions asked,details of organisations conducting and sponsoring the polls and fail to make their raw data available. “However,even if the highest standards of transparency are met,the fact remains that the ordinary voter lacks the methodological tools to assess sample size,profile,etc to test the objectivity of various opinion polls. The ordinary voter will therefore be under pressure to accept the findings of such polls without really subjecting them to analysis,” it says.

It states that calls for a blanket ban on opinion polls and calls for unregulated opinion polls must be rejected,but that media houses,etc should be restrained from publishing opinion polls or claiming to base their analyses on them after the model code of conduct comes into force.

LEFT ALTERNATIVE

The Left parties brought out a charter of alternative socio-economic policies and organised a convention against communalism last month. The Left has admitted there is no national consensus on its alternative policies,which hamper any attempt to forge a political front. “Hence the Left parties are not envisaging an all-India front or alternative in the pre-poll situation,” an editorial in the CPI’s New Age says. The Left also claims that neither the UPA nor the NDA will muster the numbers to form a government. “It throws open the possibility of forming a government that excludes both the UPA and NDA…” it says.