New Delhi: An all-party meeting today (Apr 6, 2004) heard a unanimous demand for a total ban on opinion and exit polls till the last phase of polling but was divided on the issue of personal attacks.

The meeting, convened by the Election Commission, reached a consensus that the opinion polls should be banned from the first day of notification. In the case of exit polls, the parties felt that the results should not be announced before 17.00 hrs on May 10, the last phase of the Lok Sabha polls.

While Congress dubbed opinion polls as "opinion making polls", the RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) went to the extent of demanding that even astrological predictions should not be published or telecast.

The 90-meeting saw the Congress and BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) sharply divided over what constituted personal attacks.

Seeking clarification from EC on definition of personal attacks, Congress leader Kapil Sibal said political parties agreed that there should not be any personal attacks and whatever poll panel suggests, the political parties would abide.

However, senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra said his party felt that foreign origin issue was the core issue and not a personal attack. But he said there should be a ban on casting aspersions on somebody's character.

On this issue, AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) felt that voters should have the right to know the background of the leaders in the fray, Malhotra said.

Briefing the reporters after the meeting, Sibal and Malhotra said separately that the Commission heard their views and assured them that it would take a decision on the matters raised by them as early as possible.

EC sources said the Commission was yet to decide on how to proceed on the issue of banning opinion and exit polls after it had burnt its fingers way back in 1999 when it had to withdraw the ban order after the Supreme Court found that it had no jurisdiction.

The sources felt that a way out could be the promulgation of an Ordinance to punish those who flouted the ban.

However, when asked whether the Commission would move the Supreme Court on the opinion and exit polls, Sibal, a legal luminary, said there was no need for it.

On the issue of opinion polls, Malhotra said BJP felt there was nothing wrong with the opinion polls, but said his party did not have any objection if a ban was imposed.

Apparently stung by the attack on Congress president Sonia Gandhi on her foreign origins, Sibal suggested at the meeting that the Commission should suo-motu ban personal attacks and issue directions so that the right signal was sent across.

Observing that the model code of conduct was not specific on the issue of personal attacks, he claimed that the Commission indicated it would come with clarification.