Wednesday, March 22 2006 17:35 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kolkata: The Election Commission cannot ban exit polls by the media during phase wise assembly elections, as demanded by political parties in West Bengal, unless the Centre amended the law, Chief Election Commissioner B B Tandon said today (Mar 22 2006).

The Commission was in agreement with the view of political parties that exit poll results should not be announced till the last phase of polls, he told a press conference here.

For this "the law has to be amended. We cannot amend the law," the CEC said.

Tandon said in April, 2004, the EC had discussed the issue at an all-party meeting and evolved a consensus and requested the Centre for amendment of the relevant law.

"Unless the law is amended, we cannot enforce it (a ban on phase wise exit poll)," he said.

Various political parties in the state, he said, had informed the Commission during a meeting here yesterday that exit poll, after each of the five phases of election beginning April 17, might influence voters in the subsequent one.

Tandon's press conference, attended by two ECs Navin Chawla and N Gopalaswamy and Deputy EC R Balakrishnan, came at the end of the full commision's two day visit to the state.