NEW DELHI: Exit polls on the Delhi assembly election received expected reactions from the leaders across the political spectrum after most of the pollsters predicted a strong comeback for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi after 27 long years.
The poll of exit polls gave a clear majority to BJP which is predicted to win 43 seats while the AAP may end up a distant second with only 26 seats. The majority mark in the 70-member Delhi assembly is 36.
‘Exact’ result will be better than exit polls
Bharatiya Janata Party celebrated the exit polls predictions and claimed that the “exact” results on February 8 will be even better.
Reacting to the predictions, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said, “The exit polls I saw right now, I feel like our exact polls (results) are going to be better than exit polls…the reaction we saw among people, BJP is coming to power (in Delhi). It is BJP’s homecoming. I thank the people of Delhi.”
BJP candidate from New Delhi assembly seat Parvesh Verma also hailed the predictions and said, “It is certain that Lotus will bloom on February 8. We will give good governance, clean Yamuna and employment in Delhi. Arvind Kejriwal is confident that he is losing.”
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva also reacted to the predictions and said that the voters wanted change and a corruption-free government.
“People of Delhi have made up their minds, and they want change and a corruption-free government. Our workers have fought with full dedication against this corrupt government. I’m sure that ‘AAP-da’ is going, and the BJP is coming to power in Delhi.”
AAP rejects exit polls predictions
On the other hand, AAP rejected the exit poll results for the Delhi assembly election and said that the pollsters have “historically” underestimated its performance, while the BJP termed the predictions an assertion of people’s urge for change.
AAP’s national spokesperson Reena Gupta claimed that exit polls have historically underestimated the Arvind Kejriwal-led party but in actual results, the party gained several times more than these projections.
“You look at any exit poll — whether in 2013, 2015 or 2020 — the AAP was always shown getting a smaller number of seats. But it got a greater number of seats in the actual results,” Gupta said.
She claimed that the people of Delhi have voted for the AAP in large numbers and asserted that the party is going to register a “historic” victory, with Kejriwal becoming the chief minister for a fourth time.
Congress says will wait for results
Meanwhile, Congress refrained from reacting to the predictions and said that it would wait for the results.
Candidate from the New Delhi constituency, Sandeep Dikshit, said, “Let’s wait for the February 8. We fought well.”
According to the People’s Insight exit poll, the NDA is likely to get 40 to 44 seats, the AAP 25 to 29 seats, and the Congress 0-1 seats.
The P-Marq exit poll predicted 39-49 seats for the BJP and its allies, 21-31 seats for AAP and 0-1 for the Congress.
The JVC exit poll said the BJP and allies would get 39-45, the AAP 22-31 seats and the Congress 0-2.
Similarly, the Poll Diary predicted 42-50 seats for the BJP and allies, while giving the AAP 18-25 seats, 0-2 for the Congress and 0-1 for others.
Matrize exit poll predicted a close contest, giving the BJP-led NDA 35-40 seats, while the AAP was said to get 32 to 37 seats. The survey gave Congress 0-1 seats.
The DV Research exit polls predicted 26-34 seats for the AAP, and 36-44 for the BJP and allies, giving zero seats to the Congress.
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.
The Delhi assembly results will be declared on February 8. Delhi registered nearly 58 voting per cent till 5 pm.
Check out the latest news about Delhi Elections 2025, including key constituencies such as Kalkaji, Karol Bagh, Tilak Nagar, New Delhi, Laxmi Nagar, Badarpur, Ghonda, Krishna Nagar, Model Town, Rithala, Trilokpuri, Najafgarh, and Matia Mahal.