Opposition, Rejecting PM's Survey, Says Indira Gandhi Made Similar Claim

New Delhi: If Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants "a real survey" of how the public measures his cancelling of high-denomination currency, he should call an election, said opposition leader Mayawati.

"The survey of Modijiis fake and sponsored. If he has the courage, he should dissolve the Lok Sabha and face elections, then only real survey can be done," the Uttar Pradesh leader said at parliament today.

On Tuesday, the Prime Minister used his official app to seek feedback on his banning of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Last evening, he tweeted his thanks for the "historic participation" - 5 lakh people shared their response, and overwhelmingly backed his reform which is aimed at cutting off untaxed or black money, according to the results that were shared. A result of the sudden initiative has been a massive shortage of cash, with long lines at banks in rural and urban India of people desperate to get new currency notes.

However, opposition leaders without exception have said the survey is far from representative of public opinion because most of India does not own smartphones and could not take part in the poll. They have also said that the questions were worded to preclude any disagreement.

Speaking in parliament today, Naresh Agrawal of the Samajwadi Party cautioned that during the Emergency of the 1970s, when all fundamental rights were suspended, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi also cited feedback that the people supported her. "Everybody likes praise," Mr Agrawal said.

Union minister Nirmala Sitaraman, appearing on an NDTV show, countered criticism of the survey as heavily biased.  "People are adopting every way to make their business runs," she said, stressing that there is wide support for demonetisation. "If you don't want to believe in survey, don't. Just go out and speak to people. They are happy," she said.

However, critics include Shatrughan Sinha, who has established himself as the BJP's in-house troll-in-chief. On Twitter today, he attacked "planted surveys" for leading to "fools' paradise."