The BJP is poised to form a government in Delhi after more than 26 years, with the latest Election Commission trends showing the saffron party ahead in 45 of the 70 assembly seats and AAP in 21.
The BJP and AAP have won two seats each, according to the Election Commission (EC) website.
The BJP’s vote share till 12:52 pm was 46.90 per cent while AAP’s stood at 43.24 per cent.
AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal was trailing the BJP’s Parvesh Verma by over 3,000 votes in the high-profile New Delhi seat after 11 rounds of counting.
Former deputy chief minister and senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia conceded defeat in Jangpura and expressed hope that the BJP would work for the welfare of the people in the area.
I extend my congratulations to the winning candidate and hope they will focus on the progress and welfare of the people of Jangpura,” he told reporters.
In Kalkaji, Chief Minister and AAP candidate Atishi was leading by 989 votes, the EC data showed.
Her rival Ramesh Bidhuri said, “The people will give the BJP a decisive mandate. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, Delhi will progress alongside the rest of the country. I can confidently say that AAP will be eliminated from the national capital.”
The BJP’s Mohan Singh Bisht was leading by 33,164 votes in Mustafabad — where the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) fielded northeast Delhi riots-accused Tahir Hussain.
In Okhla, AAP’s Amantullah Khan was leading by 15,178 votes.
AAP’s Saurabh Bharadwaj was trailing by 3,646 votes in Greater Kailash while Gopal Rai, his colleague in the Delhi Cabinet, was leading by 27,148 votes in Babarpur.
The BJP’s Kapil Mishra was leading in the Karawal Nagar seat by over 46,000 votes.
In Ballimaran, AAP’s Imran Hussain was leading by 29,823 votes.
Saffron party candidates Sanjay Goel (Shahdara), Chandan Chaudhary (Sangam Vihar), Bajrang Shukla (Kirari) and Kartar Singh Tanwar (Chhatarpur) were also leading.
AAP’s Durgesh Pathak (Rajinder Nagar), Anjana Parcha (Trilokpuri) and Veer Singh Dhingan (Seemapuri) were ahead of their rivals in their respective seats.
With the trends showing a significant lead for the BJP, its Delhi president Virendra Sachdeva said the national capital’s next chief minister would be from the saffron party.
“The results so far are in line with our expectations but we will wait for the final outcome,” he told reporters after offering prayers at the Hanuman temple in Connaught Place.
BJP supporters erupted in celebration outside its Delhi headquarters, waving party flags and dancing to the beats of ‘dhol’.
Holding up cutouts of a lotus, the BJP’s election symbol, they also smeared each other with saffron-coloured powder.