Exit Polls: PM Sweeps Gujarat, AAP Sweeps Delhi, Himachal Is Close

Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is likely to tighten its grip on Delhi by winning the civic body election, four exit polls predicted.

But in Gujarat, AAP is likely to finish third and manage only single digits despite an aggressive campaign, the polls said. A health warning - exit polls often get it wrong.

The BJP is likely to win its seventh successive term in Gujarat, the exit polls predicted, in a morale-booster for the ruling party ahead of the 2024 national election.

The poll of exit polls gave BJP 132 of 182 seats in Gujarat and the Congress and its allies 38. AAP would win eight, said the polls.

That would make it the BJP's best performance since the 2002 election, months after the riots in which 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed.

The Congress's tally is expected to drop significantly since 2017, when it restricted the BJP to double digits (99) and delivered its best performance since 1985. This time, the party's campaign was listless as it prioritised Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra while AAP projected itself as the BJP's main rival.

The BJP may just edge past Congress in Himachal Pradesh and win a record second consecutive term in the hill state, the polls say. The exit polls predict 35 of 68 seats for the BJP - barely the majority mark - with the Congress close behind at 29 seats. AAP may not even register in the state, say the polls.

But two exit polls showed dead heat between the BJP and the Congress in Himachal Pradesh, which has traditionally alternated between the two parties.

An average of three polls said AAP would scoop up the Delhi civic body, ending the BJP's 15-year reign. Of 250 wards in the redrawn civic body, AAP is predicted to win 155 and the BJP, 84. The Congress is likely to slip further down to seven seats.

The results of the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections will be announced on Thursday. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election results will come out a day before.