As the campaign for the Delhi assembly elections enters the final days of fever pitch, opinion polls have suggested the BJP will lag behind AAP with only 27-32 seats, dealing a blow to the party thinktank's decision to field Kiran Bedi as the chief ministerial candidate.
The Aam Aadmi Party could grab 35-41 seats and its leader Arvind Kejriwal will become Delhi chief minister, polls have shown.
Both the poll predictions, one by Hindustan Times-C and another by ABP NEWS – Nielsen, have predicted that AAP will take away the majority of seats in the 70-seat Delhi assembly.
If the predictions come true, AAP will be better placed than the previous occasion when it comes to forming a government.
For the BJP, the outcome will be a bitter pill coming as it does just months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi rode a national wave of popularity in the Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress party will be reduced to single digits, polls indicate.
However, the two surveys gave a different indications about the government formation scenario in Delhi. While HT poll prediction suggested that 2015 won't be a hung assembly as AAP will win from at least 36 constituencies, ABP survey suggested otherwise.
ABP NEWS – Nielsen Opinion Poll Seat Sharing
Parties | AAP | BJP | Congress | Others |
Vote Share | 37% | 33% | 18% | 0 |
Seat Sharing | 35 | 29 | 6 | 0 |
Seat Sharing according to Hindustan Times-C Survey
Parties | AAP | BJP | Congress | Others |
Vote Share | 40% (+11%) | 37% (+4%) | 15% (-10%) | 8% (-5%) |
Seat Sharing | 36-41 | 27-32 | 2-7 | 0-5 |
The HT survey was conducted between 27 January and 1 February by interviewing at least 3,578 voters across Delhi.
Like HT, the Economic Times too has predicted AAP's victory in this assembly elections bringing Kejriwal back to power in Delhi.
According to the opinion poll conducted by polling firm TNS for ET, AAP will garner 36-40 seats, while BJP will win only from 28-32 constituencies and the Congress will again be reduced to just 7 seats.
Delhi is going to the polls on 7 February and the counting of votes will take place three days later, on 10 January.