Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala has sought a ban on what he termed on Monday as sly attempts to sway public opinion by wrongfully portraying dubious and politically slanted opinion surveys as a barometer of public opinion.
Several recent pre-poll surveys had overwhelmingly favoured the LDF over the UDF. Moreover, they had placed Mr. Chennithala a far third behind Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in popularity. Mr. Chandy had said that the pollsters were unfair to Mr. Chennithala.
Mr. Vijayan had treated the surveys with an element of scepticism. He warned LDF workers from getting lulled into inaction by thinking that victory was at hand.
Instead, the LDF should step up its campaigning for a second innings in power.
Mr. Chennithala said his strident campaign against corruption could have made him a target in the eyes of the big business.
In a petition to the Chief Electoral Officer, Mr. Chennithala said such questionable polls tantamount to sabotaging the democratic process. Certain media outlets had commissioned the pollsters and given outsize coverage to their so-called findings. The opinion polls were limited in scope. Moreover, the pollsters had not revealed their methods or how many voters they had surveyed.
The pollsters and their collaborators in the media seemed to sow misunderstanding in the minds of voters. He requested the CEC to intervene in the matter urgently.
