Voting concluded for the high stakes Delhi Assembly elections on Wednesday, with a voter turnout of 60.42 per cent till 11.30 pm, sealing the fate of 699 candidates.
Majority of exit polls predicted a victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a development that could see the saffron party return to power in the national capital territory (NCT) after almost three decades.
However, exit poll predictions have not been accurate, particularly during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as well as Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana. Some of the prominent exit polls did not share their predictions.
NDA leads predictions
People’s Insight exit poll predicted that NDA is likely to get 40-44 seats, AAP 25-29 and the Congress 0-1 seat. The P-Marq exit poll predicted 39-49 seats for the NDA, 21-31 seats for AAP and 0-1 for the Congress.
Similarly, the JVC exit poll pegged that BJP and allies would get 39-45 seats, AAP will secure 22-31 and the Congress 0-2 seats. Chanakya Strategies said that NDA is likely to get 39-44 seats, AAP 25-28, and Congress may get 2-3.
Voting for the Assembly polls ended at 6 pm with polling percentage touching 57.89 (till 8.30 pm) across 70 constituencies (58 general and 12 reserved). The final percentage is yet to be updated.
Voters cast their ballot at 13,766 polling stations. Around 1.56 crore voters were eligible to vote in the NCT. The results will be declared on February 8.
In the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, voting percentage stood at 67.12, and fell to 62.55 per cent during the 2020 elections.
Till 8.30 pm, north-east district reported the highest turnout of 63.83 per cent. North-west district reported a voting percentage of 58.05, Shahdara (61.35 per cent), South (55.72 per cent), South east (53.77 per cent), South west (58.86 per cent), West (57.42 per cent), Central (55.74 per cent), East (60.11 per cent), North (57.48 per cent) and New Delhi (54.72 per cent).
Crossing swords
While the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is seeking a third-straight term, banking on its governance record and welfare schemes, the BJP and Congress are looking for a change.
In the 70-member Delhi Assembly, 36 is the majority mark. The AAP currently has 62 MLAs, the BJP has eight, and the Congress none.
Important candidates in the Assembly elections include AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, who is fighting from New Delhi constituency against former BJP MP Parvesh Verma and Congress’s Sandeep Dikshit, who is the son of former chief minister Sheila Dikshit.
Delhi Chief Minister Atishi is fighting BJP’s Delhi unit chief Ramesh Bidhuri and Congress’s Alka Lamba. Another tight contest is unfolding in Jangpura, where AAP’s Manish Sisodia has been fielded there against BJP’s Tarvinder Singh Marwah, and Congress’s Farhad Suri.
