Delhi decides: Politicians’ fate to be revealed today

A total of 810 candidates are in the fray.

While BJP fielded candidates in 66 constituencies, Congress and AAP contested in all the 70 seats. BSP, the third-largest party in the last assembly election, fielded candidates in 69 seats, NCP in nine and Samajwadi Party in 27 seats. A total of 224 independents were also in the fray.

The entry of Kejriwal’s AAP has changed the dimension of the election and it will be interesting to see whether the newbie will just be a ‘spoiler’ or win some seats as predicted by opinion polls, riding its anti-corruption plank.

The stakes in this election are high for Dikshit who mainly highlighted her achievements and development agenda during the campaigning, while Vardhan promised to cut power tariff by 30 per cent and slash vegetable prices within 30 days of coming to power.

Delhi assembly election result is being seen as an indicator of the mood of the urban electorate ahead of the general election.

A day before the declaration of assembly election results, Dikshit reiterated that she did not believe in exit polls and surveys.

‘We don’t work on the basis of surveys. I would say respectfully, I don’t believe in these surveys,’ Dikshit said in response to a question about surveys that are indicating a tough fight for the New Delhi seat from where she contested.

Dikshit is up against BJP’s Vijendra Gupta and Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal for this seat.

Asked about her expectations, Dikshit said: ‘Our work is done, when the counting is done, we will see the results.’

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra expressed confidence that his party will win the Delhi assembly elections. ‘I am quite confident about the party’s win,’ Malhotra told reporters.

On a possible alliance with the AAP, Malhotra termed it ‘totally hypothetical’. ‘AAP is a group of individuals, not a recognised party,’ he said.

Many post-poll surveys have given the Bharatiya Janata Party an edge over the ruling Congress and the AAP.