Exit polls see Kejriwal return

61% turnout in Delhi polls; BJP struggles to repeat LS show, Cong draws blank

After two weeks of aggressive campaigning, Delhi on Saturday saw 61.5 per cent of the total 1.47 crore voters turning up to exercise their franchise for the Assembly elections. The city had witnessed the highest-ever voter turnout of 67 per cent in the 2015 Assembly polls in which Aam Aadmi Party had scripted history by winning 67 of the 70 seats.

After the polling, the exit polls predicted a major victory for chief minister Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP. The India Today-Axis poll predicted 59-68 seats for the AAP and 2-11 for the BJP, while the ABPCVoter

put the Delhi’s ruling party’s tally at anywhere between 49 and 63, and that of its main rival between five to 19.

Almost all exit polls predicted little change in the fortunes of the Congress, which ruled the city between 1998 and 2013 but drew a blank in the 2015 polls. The Times NowIpsos exit poll predicted that Mr Kejriwal will retain power with the AAP winning 47 seats against 23 for the BJP.

The Republic-Jan ki Baat survey gave the AAP 48-61 seats and the BJP 9-21 seats. The TV9 Bharatvarsh-Cicero predicted

52-64 seats for the AAP and 6-16 for the BJP. An exit poll put out by Neta-NewsX said the AAP may win 53-57 seats and the BJP 11-17.

According to the India Today-Axis poll, the AAP is likely to get 56 per cent vote share in the Delhi Assembly polls, while the

BJP, it said, is set to receive 35 per cent vote share and the Congress is likely to lag behind at 5 per cent. Contrary to what most exit polls were predicting, BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh had a completely different prediction, claiming 50 seats for the BJP and 16 seats for the AAP. Parvesh, the son of former chief minister Sahib Singh Varma, had called Mr Kejriwal a “terrorist” during campaigning. Later in the evening, both the AAP and the BJP called internal meetings. While the AAP discussed the security of the Electronic Voting Machines, the BJP leadership deliberated upon the possible outcome of the polls.

THIS ELECTION is a proof of how selfless and strong our relationship is. We are winning by a huge margin. Hearty congratulations to all the activists. MANISH SISODIA,

Delhi Deputy CM

— PTI People wait in queues to cast their votes at Shaheen Public School polling station in the Shaheen Bagh area, which has been witnessing a peaceful protest against the Citizenship Act for several weeks, during the Delhi Assembly elections in New Delhi on Saturday.