India’s ruling BJP poised for comeback in Delhi state election, exit polls show

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appears poised to wrest the state of Delhi from the decade-long rule of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the country’s recent high-stakes regional election.

Television exit polls have predicted that the BJP will defeat the AAP, but the regional party – which rose to power on the back of an anti-corruption movement and better civic facilities for the common man – has previously defied such forecasts to secure huge wins.

“I think it is a much tougher fight. The difference in terms of vote share would likely be much closer than what is being predicted,” said Sandeep Shastri, political analyst and national coordinator of the Lok Niti Network.

Voter turnout for the Delhi state election on Wednesday was at 60.4 per cent. The results will be tallied on Saturday.

Should the BJP win, it could be a “huge morale booster” for the party ahead of other state polls, including one due to be held in the eastern state of Bihar towards the end of the year, Shastri said.

After 10 years in power, the AAP is on the back foot because of voter fatigue, according to Shastri. “When the party first came to power [in Delhi], it projected itself as an alternative to mainstream political parties, but today it is not in any way different,” he said.