‘Opium’: Akhilesh questions credibility of opinion polls on TV

• Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has sparked off a political controversy over opinion polls on TV ahead of the assembly election in Uttar Pradesh. In a TV interview, Akhilesh Yadav defended his party’s decision to move the poll panel seeking ban on opinion polls. He dismissed the credibility of such surveys and called them ‘Opium Polls’ instead. He said that the opinion polls were unnecessarily favouring the BJP and such results could hamper the voters’ opinion. On Sunday, Samajwadi Party leader had shot off a letter to the election commission calling for a ban on such polls. Their ally RLD had also followed suit on January 25. The debate was reignited after BSP chief Mayawati had sought a similar ban on opinion polls in October last year claiming that the opinion polls were misleading. Watch for more details.