Political Conspiracy To Manipulate Public Opinion Must Be Exposed

Political Conspiracy To Manipulate Public Opinion Must Be Exposed

The shocking revelations that have emerged from the sting “Operation Prime Minister” carried out by a news channel indicate a political conspiracy to manufacture and manipulate public opinion. This conspiracy, hatched by the BJP and supported by a section of corporate world and media, challenges the foundations of democracy.

Assuming that the footage aired by the news channel is authentic, it represents a dark hour for the Indian media. The sting operation shows the heads of some of the well known polling organisations are willing to manipulate survey results for monetary considerations. There are serious allegations about many news channels being willing partners to this manipulations. It shows that political parties, above all the BJP, have been buying favourable surveys, often using black money. The latest revelations add to an earlier sting by Cobra Post which showed systematic manipulation of social media to favour Narendra Modi.

The sting operation supports Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP’s) allegation that Delhi Assembly election were manipulated through a survey scam at the behest of the BJP. It reinforces the wide spread belief that there is a similar and bigger attempt by the BJP to manipulate the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. The last few weeks have seen a flurry of opinion polls with successive higher projections for the BJP. If the BJP wants to manipulate opinion polls, the Congress is scared of public opinion itself and would use this opportunity to ban opinion polls. AAP believes that banning all opinion polls is not a solution, but this situation calls for a regulatory framework for ensuring transparency in public opinion polling.

AAP wishes to alert the country about this dangerous conspiracy. It demands that:

1. The News Broadcasters Standards Authority and the Editors’ Guild should, having checked the veracity of this sting, conduct an inquiry into the role of news channels in broadcasting manipulated polls.

2. The channels, such as Times Now, Headlines Today and India TV, which have used “polls” conducted by these agencies under cloud should offer an explanation and make full disclosure to public.

3. The Election Commission should institute a code of conduct and a regulatory authority for the conduct of opinion polls.

4. A criminal investigation should be carried out by an SIT, preferably under Supreme Court, to verify all the allegations contained in this sting and get to the bottom of this political conspiracy regarding the role of political parties in manipulating the findings of opinion polls in the recent past.

5. All the media organisations must be required to disclose the list of their share holders, investors and lenders, their annual financial statements and make full disclosure of their political connections and business interests outside media.

AAP will write to the NBSA, Editor’s Guild and approach the Election Commission of India with these demands.