Delhi assembly election results tomorrow; tight race between AAP, BJP

New Delhi: All eyes are on Delhi as the counting of votes for the assembly polls will take place on Saturday. The poll results will be crucial for AAP which eyes to retain power for a fourth term and the BJP which seeks to form a government in the national capital after more than 26 years. After facing back to back defeat in assembly and Lok Sabha elections, the Congress is looking for some gains in this polls.

The counting will begin at 8 am in 19 counting stations, spreading across 11 districts of the city. Several exit polls have predicted the BJP an edge over the AAP, which has been ruling in Delhi since 2015.

Shahdara, Central Delhi, East, South, and Southwest districts will each have one counting station. The North, West, Northeast, and Southeast districts will each have two counting stations, while the New Delhi and Northwest districts will have three counting stations each.

According to the Election Commission, 60.54 per cent votes were polled on Wednesday.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva has claimed his party will win nearly 50 seats. The AAP has rejected the exit poll predictions, asserting it will form the government again with its convener Kejriwal becoming chief minister for the fourth time.

The national capital is placed under tight security ahead of the counting day. Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Alice Vaz said a total of 5,000 personnel, including counting supervisors, counting assistants, micro-observers, and supporting staff trained for the process, will be deployed on Saturday for the counting of votes.

In view of the fairness of the counting process, a random selection of five VVPATs (voter verifiable paper audit trails) will be done in each assembly constituency.

A three-tier security arrangement with 10,000 police personnel, including two paramilitary companies at each centre, has been put in place for the 19 counting centres.

"We have made robust security arrangements (for counting day). Only authorised personnel will be allowed inside the counting centres, where the use of mobile phones will be strictly prohibited," Special Commissioner of Police Devesh Chandra Srivastava told a press conference on securing arrangements for the counting day.

When only hours left for the election results, high political drama unfolded outside AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal's residence as a team of Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) reached there, seeking details and evidence regarding his allegations that the BJP attempted to poach the Aam Aadmi Party candidates.

As Kejriwal did not appear before the ACB officials at his 5, Ferozeshah Road bungalow, they served him a legal notice seeking proof. The move comes soon after Lt Governor VK Saxena ordered an ACB probe into the matter.

The AAP won power in Delhi's political map routing both the BJP and Congress in 2015 Assembly polls, winning 67 of the 70 Assembly seats. The party won the 2020 elections, winning 62 seats and decimating the opposition BJP and Congress. A victory for the AAP will establish Kejriwal's dominance in Delhi and enhance his political stature nationally.

However, if the BJP wins the polls, it will not only mark their comeback after a long gap of over 26 years, but also victory in breaking the spell of AAP and Kejriwal.
The Congress, which ruled Delhi for 15 years in a row till 2013, is striving to stage a comeback after failing to win a single seat in the previous two elections.