Delhi Election 2025: Voting and Counting Process
The Election Commission of India (ECI) will begin the counting process at 8:00 am on February 8. The postal ballots, including votes from government officials, service voters, and elderly or differently-abled individuals who opted for postal voting, will be counted first. Following this, Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be unlocked and votes counted in multiple rounds. Voter turnout stood at 60.42%, slightly lower than the 62.59% recorded in 2020.Most exit polls released on Wednesday gave the BJP an edge over the AAP. However, AAP leaders said that exit polls have historically underestimated the party’s performance. They expressed confidence in returning to power.
According to the P-MARQ exit poll, the BJP is likely to win 39-49 assembly seats, AAP 21-31 seats, and Congress 0-1 seat.
Matrize’s exit poll predicted a close contest between the BJP and AAP, stating that the BJP is likely to win 35-40 seats, AAP 32-37 seats, and Congress one seat.
Peoples Pulse exit poll projected 51-60 seats for the BJP and 10-19 seats for AAP, while giving zero seats to Congress. People’s Insight exit poll estimated that the BJP could win 40-44 seats, AAP 25-29 seats, and Congress 0-1 seat.
WeePreside exit poll predicted AAP could secure 46-52 seats, BJP 18-23 seats, and Congress 0-1 seat.
Delhi Election 2025: Key Constituencies to Watch
New Delhi
Arvind Kejriwal, contesting from New Delhi for the fourth consecutive time, faces BJP’s Parvesh Verma and Congress’ Sandeep Dikshit. Kejriwal won this seat in 2020 with a margin of 21,687 votes.
Malviya Nagar
AAP’s Somnath Bharti, a three-time winner, is up against BJP’s Satish Upadhyay and Congress’ Jitendra Kumar Kochar. Bharti secured over 50% of the vote share in the last two elections.
Rohini
BJP’s Vijender Gupta, a two-time MLA from Rohini, is seeking a third term against AAP’s Pradeep Mittal. Gupta defeated AAP’s Rajesh Nama ‘Bansiwala’ by over 12,000 votes in 2020.
Ballimaran
Ballimaran, a Muslim-majority constituency, sees AAP’s Imran Hussain face off against Congress veteran Haroon Yusuf and BJP’s Kamal Bagri, who won a Delhi Municipal Corporation seat in 2022.
Shakur Basti
BJP has fielded Karnail Singh, the head of its Delhi Mandir Prakoshth (temple cell), against AAP’s Satyendar Jain, making this a high-profile contest.
Patparganj
Manish Sisodia’s former stronghold, Patparganj, sees AAP’s Awadh Ojha competing against BJP’s Ravinder Singh Negi and Congress’ Anil Chaudhary. Sisodia had won in 2020 with 70,163 votes.
Kalkaji
Delhi Chief Minister Atishi Singh is contesting from Kalkaji for AAP, facing Congress’ Alka Lamba and BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri. The constituency has 1,94,515 registered voters.
Jangpura
AAP has fielded Manish Sisodia in Jangpura against Congress’ Tarvinder Singh Marwah and Farhad Suri. In 2020, AAP won by over 15,000 votes.
Okhla
AAP’s Amanatullah Khan is contesting for the third time in Okhla, facing Congress’ Ariba Khan. Khan secured over 60,000 vote margins in both 2015 and 2020.
With the vote count approaching, all eyes are on these key contests as Delhi awaits its next government.
