The leaders of the Telangana wing of the Congress today urged the Election Commission of India (EC) to ban the exit poll that would reveal the probable winner of the recent Nagarjuna Sagar by-election, citing that the results of the same would likely influence the decisions of the state's voters in the upcoming municipal elections to be held on April 30 (tomorrow).
TPCC Election Coordination Committee Convenor G Niranjan wrote a letter on the issue to the EC and told the body that it had given permission for the telecasting of the results of the exit polls from 7 pm today.
He pointed out that it was illegal to telecast the results of the exit polls a day before the municipal elections in the state, and said that the party had already spoken to the officials of the EC over the phone and made the same plea.
The Congress has been quite angry about the organisation of the municipal elections in the first place. The party's leaders have repeatedly highlighted the risks of holding the same in the midst of the ongoing pandemic, which has hit the state badly.
Senior leader Shabbir Ali had even
filed a petition with the Telangana High Court asking for the postponement of the upcoming local body elections. In the petition, he had told the court that Covid-19 cases were rising in a rapid manner in Telangana and argued that the upcoming elections needed to be postponed for the sake of public health.
The leader also told the HC that the state government had already implemented a night curfew in the state, which evidenced the risk posed by Covid-19.
However, Chief Justice Hima Kohli declined to hear Shabbir Ali's petition and advised him to approach the SEC with his concerns.