Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP party is projected to win the election in the Delhi capital territory, according to TV exit polls released on Wednesday, marking a rebound after its unexpected poor performance in last year’s general election.
Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to secure an absolute majority in the 70-member assembly of the capital territory, defeating Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a staunch critic of Modi.
Exit polls, conducted by private polling firms for broadcasters, have had mixed results in India, where the voting population is extremely diverse.
AAP, which emerged from an anti-corruption movement in 2012, gained its first electoral victory in Delhi and has governed the territory, which is home to India’s parliament and federal government offices, for two consecutive terms since 2015.
Kejriwal, 55, an anti-corruption campaigner turned politician, was arrested on corruption charges just weeks before the general election began, claiming it was part of a political vendetta orchestrated by the Modi government. The BJP has denied the accusations.
He was later granted bail but resigned as chief minister to focus on campaigning for the Delhi election.
Although Modi lost his outright majority in the national parliament last year, he returned as prime minister for a record-equalling third term with support from regional parties. His BJP has won two of the three state elections since.
