Unfazed by exit poll surveys, BJP and AAP have expressed confidence for forming next Government in Delhi on their own on the eve of counting of votes. The Congress leaders were also hopeful of doing well. Delhi BJP president Vijay Goel on Saturday said that he is confident and the party will get majority of seats in the Assembly elections.
“We will certainly form the government with a clear majority. There is no question of seeking anybody’s support,” said Dr Harsh Vardhan, chief ministerial candidate of BJP for Delhi. Despite confidence expressed by leaders of political parties, including Congress, the exit poll reportage has led to confusion among them.
A senior Congress MlA said, “Exit polls have created confusion, which has in turn led to bit of nervousness. The situation is grim, but the internal report of the Congress on the outcome is not as bad as projected by exit polls.” Congress leaders also said they have reasons not to trust exit polls as they went wrong in 2003, 2004, 2008 and 2009 in the country. In the 2008 Assembly polls, Congress had won 43 seats, while the BJP bagged 23.
One of the Congress leader recalled that a satta bazaar and exit poll survey had predicted that BJP would form government in Delhi in 2008 but poll results went the other way and Sheila Dikshit won the Assembly elections by a huge majority. Another BJP leader said on condition of anonymity that AAP’s hype has been created by the media and it will be exposed when results are out. “The main fight is between BJP and Congress only. However, AAP may chew into some votes of both parties,” he said.
Meanwhile, AAP candidate Manish Sisodia, contesting from East Delhi’s Patparganj said the party will emerge victorious on Sunday for sure, the day of reckoning when the results will be declared. “We will surely oust Congress and BJP and win the polls by an absolute majority,” he said. Among the other known faces of the party is Gopal Rai who is contesting from Babarpur who unlike Sisodia, says that it is a tough fight in his constituency which has Zakir Khan (Congress) and Naresh Gaur (BJP). “It is a tough fight. I can’t say anything right now.”
The entry of Kejriwal’s AAP has changed the dimension of 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 high on its anti-graft 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 slash power tariff by 30 per cent and reduce vegetable prices within 30 days of coming to power.