MCD elections: Exit polls predict sweep for BJP; setback for Kejriwal as AAP rout

New Delhi: The BJP could be headed for a landslide victory in the Delhi municipal polls with two exit polls predicting the party finishing way ahead of the AAP and the Congress with over 200 of the 270 wards where polling was held Sunday.

Going by the projected figures, the AAP could well be staring at a rout on its home turf, barely two years into its rise to power bagging a staggering 67 of the 70 Assembly seats, while the Congress' attempt to regain ground may come a cropper.

According to the India Today-Axis exit poll, the BJP may bag anything between 202 and 220 seats, while the AAP and the Congress will score something around 23-35 and 19-31 respectively.

The C-Voter-ABP exit poll claimed the BJP was likely to sweep Delhi with 218 seats, limiting the AAP and the Congress to 24 and 22 seats respectively.

Polling was held in 270 wards of the three municipal corporations. The election to two wards has been postponed due to the death of candidates.

Voting to elect the municipal councillors commenced at over 13,000 polling stations across the national capital at 8 AM amid tight security arrangements.

Of the 13,022 polling stations, the police had declared 3,284 as 'sensitive' and 1,464 as 'hyper-sensitive'.

For the first time, the 'None Of The Above' (NOTA) option was made available in the MCD polls.

A total of 1,32,10,206 voters, including over 1.1 lakh first-time voters, were entitled to exercise their franchise to elect councillors for the 270 wards under the three civic bodies -- NDMC (103 wards), SDMC (104) and EDMC (63).

Voting officially ended at 5.30 PM, although those who had queued up in front of the polling booths by that time were allowed to cast their votes.