New Delhi: The counting of votes for the Delhi Assembly election is taking place from 8 a.m. on Saturday, with the top contenders Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hoping to form government in the capital city. 

Voting for all 70 seats of the Delhi Assembly took place on Wednesday (February 5).

Exit polls have projected a comeback for the BJP in Delhi after 27 years, with the party predicted to hit the majority mark of 36 comfortably and bag 10-15 more seats than that, ousting the incumbent Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP. The Congress, however, is projected to bag 0-3 seats at maximum.

Key contests to watch out

New Delhi (AAP's Arvind Kejriwal vs BJP's Parvesh Verma)

The New Delhi constituency will see one of the most intense battles in the national capital with former Chief Minister and party supremo Arvind Kejriwal as the AAP candidate. He will face BJP's Parvesh Verma and Congress' Sandeep Dikshit from this seat, which Kejriwal has represented since 2013.

In 2020, Kejriwal won the seat by 21,687 votes.

Kalkaji

Kalkaji will also witness one of the most intense political battles in the Delhi Assembly election with AAP, Congress and BJP fielding their top candidates from the constituency.

The ruling AAP has fielded Delhi Chief Minister Atishi against Congress' Alka Lamba and BJP's Ramesh Bidhuri. The constituency has 1,94,515 votes

In 2020, Atishi defeated BJP's Dharambir Singh by 11,393 votes.

Malviya Nagar

Aam Aadmi Party's Somnath Bharti is in fray from his bastion Malviya Nagar once again. The former Delhi Minister has won the seat in the last three elections with significant margins.

This year, Bharti is facing BJP's Satish Upadhyay and Congress' Jitendra Kumar Kochar. In 2015 and 2020, Bharti secured over 50 per cent of the vote share.

Rohini

In Delhi's Rohini seat, a tough battle will be seen between the two-time winner and BJP leader Vijender Gupta (2015, 2020), who is seeking a third term against AAP's Pradeep Mittal.

In 2020, Gupta defeated AAP's Rajesh Nama 'Bansiwala' by over 12,000 votes.

Jangpura

All eyes will be on Delhi's Jangpura seat as former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who was also jailed in connection with the excise policy case, is contesting from this constituency.

Sisodia is competing against BJP's Tarvinder Singh Marwah and Congress' Farhad Suri.

In the 2020 election, AAP won by more than 15,000 votes with Praveen Kumar as their candidate.

Greater Kailash

Another key battle in the Delhi Assembly election, Saurabh Bharadwaj of AAP, who has consistently won the Greater Kailash seat since 2013, is now contesting against BJP’s Shikha Rai and Congress' Garvit Singhvi.

Patparganj

A stronghold of former Chief Minister Manish Sisodia for the past three consecutive terms, Patparganj this year saw an electoral battle between AAP's Awadh Ojha, who will face BJP's Ravinder Singh Negi and Congress' Anil Chaudhary.

Before AAP's dominance, Congress won the seat from 1998 to 2013. In 2020, Sisodia won by 70,163 votes.

Okhla

Amanatullah Khan, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate, is once again contesting from Okhla in the upcoming elections, aiming for his third consecutive victory. He faces a new challenge with Congress fielding Ariba Khan and BJP's Manish Chaudhary as his rival.

Ballimaran

Ballimaran is a traditional Muslim-dominated segment and a key seat in the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha constituency.

This year, AAP has nominated Imran Hussain, while Congress has fielded veteran leader Haroon Yusuf. BJP has replaced its 2020 candidate with Kamal Bagri, who won a Delhi Municipal Corporation seat in 2022.

Chhatarpur

Another key constituency, Chhatarpur will witness an intense "battle of the Tanwars". AAP's Brahm Singh Tanwar is facing BJP's Kartar Singh Tanwar and Congress' Rajender Singh Tanwar.

Interestingly, Kartar, who had won on an AAP ticket in 2020, switched to the BJP last year and is now its candidate.

According to the Election Commission of India (EC) data, the approximate voter turnout after the Delhi Assembly election stood at 60.54 per cent, with the North East district recording the highest voting percentage -- 66.25 per cent. The lowest polling was recorded in the South East Delhi district at 56.40 per cent.

The incumbent AAP, BJP, and Congress are the main contenders of Delhi poll 2025. AAP is eyeing a third straight full term in Delhi.

AAP, which has dominated the last two Assembly polls in Delhi, won 62 out of 70 seats in the 2020 election, while the BJP won eight. Congress, which ruled Delhi for 15 years, failed to open its account in the last two Assembly polls and is predicted to perform similarly this time as well.

Exit poll results for the Delhi election were released on Wednesday evening after the voting for the Assembly poll concluded.

Most exit polls projected a comfortable win for the BJP in the Delhi Assembly election, while the incumbent AAP is predicted to be failing to hit a hattrick. Exit polls projected another rout for Congress.

The counting process will start with postal ballots, which include votes from government officials on election duty, service voters, and elderly or differently-abled voters who chose postal voting.

After the postal ballots are counted, the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be unlocked and the votes will be counted in multiple rounds. This process is expected to continue throughout the day, with results from different constituencies being released at intervals.

The Election Commission will update vote trends regularly, offering a clearer picture of each party's performance. By around Saturday noon, major voting trends are likely to emerge, giving an early indication of the likely winner.

The election results can be tracked on https://results.eci.gov.in from 8 a.m. onwards.

Voting for the Delhi Assembly poll 2025 took place in a single phase on February 5.

(IANS)