Worried that the exit poll results of the first phase of the general elections would have an unfavourable impact on its workers, the Congress today considered the option of moving court to seek a stay on the publicising of the next exit polls by TV channels.According to senior party leaders, a legal appeal has been drafted to be presented before the Supreme Court to seek a stay on exit poll results till the final phase of polling is over on May 10. At the AICC’s strategy committee meeting today, the party debated on whether to move the court before the 48-hour deadline set by the Election Commission to get a legal opinion ends tomorrow.It was also decided at the meeting that in the case of an adverse decision from the EC, the Congress would move the SC, asking for a stay on the results of the exit polls.Party leaders also expressed serious concern about the impact of the exit polls on the election to be held in Uttar Pradesh on April 26.In a bid to boost the morale of party workers, Rahul Gandhi would be campaigning in Uttar Pradesh from tomorrow. This would be the first time since he filed his nomination from Amethi that he would be stepping out to campaign. According to the AICC, Rahul may cover seven constituencies, including Jaunpur, Padrauna, Maharajganj, Mirzapur, Varanasi and Pratapgarh. There was no word yet on the campaign plans of Priyanka.Meanwhile, the party has asked for reports on the first phase of polls from Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, his Maharashtra counterpart Sushil Kumar Shinde and presidents of the party’s state units in Orissa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Chhattisgarh.Officially, though, the party dismissed the exit polls, calling them ‘‘pro-government’’, ‘‘politically motivated’’ and ‘‘mischievous attempts being made by the BJP and its cheerleaders to manufacture a victory for the BJP/NDA’’.
