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New Delhi: 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.

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