I do not agree with the view that the Congress has lost faith in democratic values and is therefore advocating a ban on opinion polls. I also do not agree that the ruling party is trying to curb free speech. I think it is more of a knee-jerk panic reaction by asking the Election Commission to ban opinion polls. In plain words, Congress doesn't know how to handle the Modi juggernaut.
Let's face facts. Almost all opinion polls conducted in recent months have shown Narendra Modi far ahead of Rahul Gandhi in popularity ratings. Most of the surveys also indicate a decline in the number of seats Congress may get in the next Lok Sabha elections, but the ruling party are not willing to accept this.
They believe that there is no “Modi wave” and all these polls have been manipulated by the Gujarat strongman. Many Congress leaders feel that Modi has cleverly used opinion polls to orchestrate a hike in his popularity ratings.
Jairam Ramesh thinks Modi is a balloon full of hot air generated by TV channels. Chidambaram is convinced that Modi mania is nothing but exaggerated hype created by overenthusiastic BJP workers. There are many in Congress who directly blame psephologists for create a fake impression that Modi is the most popular leader in the country today.
