Exit Polls Project Third Straight Win For AAP

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by Arvind Kejriwal, seems to be headed for a third straight win, according to exit polls soon after voting ended in the National Capital.

While the polls on average showed a lower tally for AAP than last time’s sweep of 67 out of 70 seats in the Assembly, these also projected a rise in tally for BJP, as also a marginal improvement for Congress.

Going by the exit poll projections, Bharatiya Janata Party’s high-decibel and vicious ‘goli maaro’ campaign in the backdrop of widespread anti-CAA-NRC protests in the country as well as in Delhi, especially making Shaheen Bagh sit-in a poll issue, does not seemed to have worked for it. In contrast, AAP stuck to asking votes for its development work in Delhi.

This would be the third straight setback for BJP after Haryana and Jharkhand, where it campaigned on national issues, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath pulling out all stops to launch a communal and hyper-nationalist narrative. 

The India Today-Axis poll, which has been closest to the results the past few times, gave a landslide to AAP, projecting 59-68 seats for the party, and a rout for BJP with 2-11 seats.

The Times Now-Ipsos exit polls predicted that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal would retain his chair with the AAP winning 44 seats against 26 for BJP.

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

The TV9 Bharatvarsh-Cicero predicted 54 seats for the AAP, 15 for the BJP and one for the Congress.

The ABP-C-Voter exit poll gave AAP 49-63 seats, 5-19 for BJP and 0-4 for Congress.

India News-Neta poll predicted 53-57 for AAP, BJP 11-17.

Till 6 .pm, Delhi had recorded a turnout of 57.06%. The figure is likely to rise as polling was still underway at some booths, according to Delhi Election Commission officials. In 2015, the voter turnout was over 67%.