Arvind Kejriwal
Arvind Kejriwal does not see the upcoming Delhi elections as a battle between himself and Narendra Modi.IANS

While Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal may want Delhi to go to polls immediately, the results may not be in his favour. A poll survey has predicted an easy win for the Bharatiya Janata Party, if elections were to be held now.

The BJP will win a comfortable majority of 46 seats in the 70-member assembly if the polls were conducted right away, according to an opinion poll by ABP News-Nielson. It had won 32 seats in the 2013 polls.

With the Modi wave washing aside other parties in Maharashtra and Haryana, the survey has predicted a vote share of 38% for the BJP in the capital.

The survey predicted a lower count of 18 seats for the Aam Aadmi Party, which had won 28 seats in the December 2013 elections and had come to power with the backing of the Congress.

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Kejriwal, however, stepped down in February this year after 49 days in office, and the state has been under the President's rule.

Congress will emerge as the far third, and could be restricted to only five seats compared to the eight seats it won in the 2013 polls.

But even as the BJP has the brightest prospect in the upcoming elections, it is Kejriwal who has emerged as the favourite choice for the chief minister's post.

Almost 39% of the 6,528 respondents backed Kejriwal for CM, while 38% wanted BJP's Harsh Vardhan to take the post.

About 61% people also said they were satisfied with Kejriwal's work during his short stint in the chief minister's chair.

But AAP leader could not beat Modi in the popularity charts, as the latter remained the most popular leader in the Capital with 63% of the respondents supporting him. Kejriwal emerged second with 25% while Rahul Gandhi trailed far behind with 12%.

The opinion poll was conducted by ABP News-Nielson with 6,528 respondents across 35 assembly constituencies over three days between 5 November and 7 November.

However, fresh polls in Delhi are not expected any time soon and will be held only by February next year.

What poll results will look like if elections in Delhi are held now -

BJP – 46 seats (38% vote share)

AAP – 18 (26% vote share)

Congress – 5 (22% vote share)

Others - 1

Who is Favourite for the Chief Minister's Chair?

Arvind Kejriwal (AAP) – 39%

Harsh Vardhan (BJP) – 38%

Sheila Dikshit (Congress) – 7%

Jadish Mukhi (BJP) – 5 %

Satish Upadhyay (BJP) – 4%