The Election Commission of India, ECI has banned exit polls till the completion of Assembly elections in five states of Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur. The Commission has issued a notification to this effect.

According to the notification, the ECI has also banned release of opinion polls in any manner on electronic media under Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 during a period of 48 hours, counted backwards from close of poll, in each phase of election. The ban on exit polls would apply to both the electronic and print media till 5:30 PM on 3rd March while the ban on opinion polls will only apply to electronic media.

The Commission has also clarified that there is no ban on opinion poll in print media as the said Act does not apply to print media.