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EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, SEPT 16: The Congress today questioned the credibility of the Development and Research Services (DRS) Exit Poll survey telecast on Doordarshan yesterday, alleging a huge scam behind the programme.
Party spokesperson Kapil Sibal said today that the DRS was being headed by G V L Narasimha Rao, ``who was merely a graduate and a diploma holder in management and not properly qualified to conduct exit polls'' and alleged that there was a conspiracy behind his selection by Doordarshan to influence the voters in the coming poll phases.
Sibal further questioned how an exit poll by a private agency could be telecast with the Doordarshan logo and labelled the action as a gross misuse of the Government agency.
Sibal alleged that as per his calculations, the total advertisement revenue from the one-hour programme was no more than Rs 6 lakh, but the total cost of the programme was around Rs 33 lakh. Demanding an explanation from the Government as to where the shortfall of Rs 27 lakh came from, Sibalcharged that the entire exit poll was orchestrated by the BJP to influence voters.
Meanwhile, the party demanded that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee give the nation details of its secret pact with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the Kashmir issue. Referring to the statement by Pakistan foreign secretary Sartaj Aziz that India and Pakistan were on the verge of reaching a solution on Kashmir, Sibal said that the Prime Minister should come out with the facts on the deal.
Sibal also asked Vajpayee to come clear about his Kargil visit on December 6 as Pakistani shelling was temporarily stopped for the duration of his stay there. He said Vajpayee had decided to visit Kargil despite objections by the Armed Forces and that he had spoken to Nawaz Sharif a day before his journey there.
Meanwhile, the BJP today denied that the party or even the Government had any connection with the exit polls telecast by Doordarshan.
BJP general secretary M Venkaiah Naidu challenged the Congress to conduct such apoll if it so wishes. ``Final poll results won't change by such exit polls,'' Naidu contended.
Reacting to the Congress charge that Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan had misused official media for partisan gains, Naidu said Mahajan had been away campaigning and was in no position to influence DD. ``The Government has no control over Doordarshan. It is controlled by Prasar Bharati, which is an autonomous body,'' Naidu said.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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