VIDEO: 'Better life' card helps AAP retain power in Delhi, say exit polls

Resmi Sivaram

Voting was peaceful despite a vicious campaign in Delhi and exit polls predicted that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by Arvind Kejriwal will retain power, though with a reduced majority. The BJP onslaught on communal lines, which saw them go to the extent of calling the incumbent chief minister a terrorist, doesn't seem to have helped BJP in its bid to oust him.

The average summary of all polls says Kejriwal is poised to score a hat-trick, gaining 55 seats in the 70-member Delhi Vidhan Sabha, while the BJP will net 14, and the Congress one. Exit polls, which are considered as an indicator to which party will form the government, are a survey of voters taken soon after they walk out after casting their vote. Unlike an opinion poll, which asks for whom the voter plans to vote, an exit poll asks for whom the voter actually voted.

While Kejriwal thanked the voters for endorsing his government whose focus was development, the BJP refused to concede defeat and still expressed the hope that their appeal to the majority community will reap benefits. The party, which had swept all seven Lok Sabha seats in May, were hoping to win a significant number of seats, up from the mere three it netted in the 2015 assembly election.

The exit poll results varied much, with some giving the AAP as much as 61 seats in the Assembly, where it currently holds 67. The thinking is that small majorities can swing seats either way. Some surveys said the AAP count will go down to as low as 45. Their interpretation was that the BJP has been able to exploit the majority community's sentiments against the Shaheen Bagh protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which has been going on for well over a month.

However, what is striking is that the voters seem to have stayed with AAP which has provided them with something to improve their lives - better education, health amenities, free electricity and water etc.

The new generation of cosmopolitan voters seem to have totally ignored the communal politics that the BJP played to a high pitch.

Kejriwal campaign focused on his work on fixing the city's hospitals and schools and promising a host of new welfare measures. After voting in the morning, Kejriwal made a special appeal to women to come out in large numbers and vote, as he posted on Twitter that he was celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary too during the day. He voted at Rajpur Transport Authority polling booth, along with his wife Sunita, a former Income Tax Commissioner. His son Pulkit Kejriwal voted for the first time.

The polling percentage in Saturday's vote was around 57, according to the Election Commission, which said it will still go up. In 2015, it was 67 per cent.

The ABP News-CVoter exit polls gave the AAP 49 to 63 seats, and 5 to 19 for the BJP. The Congress could end up with a zero or gain up to 5 seats, it said.

According to News 24-Jan ki Baat, AAP will likely win around 55 seats, BJP might win 15 while the Congress won't be able to open its account.

The Republic TV, with a blatantly BJP bias, gave 48 to 61 seats for the AAP. It sees between 9 and 21 for BJP and may be a single seat for the Congress.

According to India Today-Axis, the AAP would win between 59 and 68, the BJP 2 to 11, and the Congress will end up with nothing.

The Times Now gave more to the BJP, up to 26, but still predicted an AAP win with 44 seats. That slide of 23 seats is seen as the result of Shaheen Bagh negativity on the AAP. The AAP vote share is 51 per cent, while the BJP gets 40.

News X-Neta says the AAP tally would be 53 to 57. The BJP would get 11 to 17, and the Congress might win two.

TV9-Cicero poll found AAP winning 54, the BJP 15 and the Congress one.

The election was the BJP's first test since huge protests erupted nearly two months ago over the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which is accused of violating India's secular constitution and discriminating against Muslims. A rout could be interpreted as a blow to that policy.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah summoned BJP members of parliament for an urgent meeting late Saturday. Around 240 parliamentarians, 70 Union ministers and several Chief Ministers have campaigned in the city for days.

Recent exit polls have all proved right in India. The BJP failed to regain Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand as predicted though it managed a post-poll majority in Haryana. It had to finally concede the vital state of Maharashtra to former ally Shiv Sena.