NEW DELHI, Mar 4 (ANI): Taking a dig at the opinion and exit pollsbeing run on several news channels, Chief Election CommissionerS.Y. Quraishi on popular microblogging site, Twitter, said such surveys should at best be on entertainment channels.
“Opinion and exit polls should best be on entertainment channels!,” Quraishi tweeted on Sunday afternoon.
The reaction of the CEC, who made his Twitter debut on February 29, came as television channels were busy predicting government formations and possible political fallouts of the current assembly elections in the five states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur from the time polling ended on Saturday.
The Election Commission had banned exit polls till the completion of assembly elections in the five states on March 3.
Quraishi brushed aside criticism of the poll body on the notices and action taken against some ministers during the high voltage campaign, saying it was part of the game and the Election Commission has taken it in its stride.
He, however, expressed anguish at people accusing the EC of bias. “It hurts when people accuse me of bias,” he said.
Quraishi had earlier refused to comment on speculation about election results and possible political alliances, saying, “When elections end, politics starts… Our job is to conduct free and fair polls. And, we have done our job pretty well,” he said.