However, the Congress increased its vote share by around two per cent this time as it got 6.34% this time. Not only this, the data shows that Aam Aadmi Party could have retained power in the national capital had it contested the polls in alliance with Congress. There are at least 14 seats where the Congress party’s votes are more than the BJP’s winning margin. The AAP got 22 seats in the polls and together with Congress, this could have been 36, the exact majority mark.

In Sangam Vihar, the BJP candidate received 54,049 votes, while the AAP candidate secured 53,705 votes, losing by a narrow margin of 344 votes. The Congress candidate received 15,863 votes.

In Trilokpuri, the BJP candidate got 58,217 votes, whereas the AAP candidate received 57,825 votes, resulting in an AAP defeat by 392 votes. The Congress candidate secured 6,147 votes.

In Jangpura, the BJP candidate obtained 38,859 votes, while the AAP candidate got 38,184 votes, losing by 675 votes. The Congress candidate received 7,350 votes.

In Timarpur, the BJP candidate garnered 50,429 votes, whereas the AAP candidate received 49,460 votes, losing by 969 votes. The Congress candidate managed 7,827 votes.

In Rajendra Nagar, the BJP candidate secured 46,671 votes, while the AAP candidate got 45,440 votes, losing by 1,231 votes. The Congress candidate received 4,015 votes.

In Malviya Nagar, the BJP candidate received 39,564 votes, whereas the AAP candidate got 37,433 votes, losing by 2,131 votes. The Congress candidate secured 6,770 votes.

In Greater Kailash, the BJP candidate got 49,594 votes, while the AAP candidate secured 46,406 votes, losing by 3,188 votes. The Congress candidate received 6,711 votes.

In New Delhi, the BJP candidate obtained 30,088 votes, whereas the AAP candidate received 25,999 votes, losing by 4,089 votes. The Congress candidate got 4,568 votes.

In Chhatarpur, the BJP candidate received 80,469 votes, while the AAP candidate got 74,230 votes, losing by 6,239 votes. The Congress candidate secured 6,601 votes.

In Mehrauli, the BJP candidate obtained 38,349 votes, while the AAP candidate secured 46,567 votes, losing by 8,218 votes. The Congress candidate received 9,338 votes.

In Madipur, the BJP candidate received 52,019 votes, whereas the AAP candidate secured 41,120 votes, losing by 10,899 votes. The Congress candidate got 17,958 votes.

In Badli, the BJP candidate garnered 61,192 votes, while the AAP candidate got 46,029 votes, losing by 15,163 votes. The Congress candidate received 41,071 votes.

In Kasturba Nagar, the BJP candidate received 38,067 votes, whereas the AAP candidate secured 18,617 votes, losing by 19,450 votes. The Congress candidate obtained 27,019 votes.

In Nangloi Jat, the BJP candidate secured 75,272 votes, while the AAP candidate got 49,021 votes, losing by 26,251 votes. The Congress candidate received 32,028 votes.

Before the voting for the Delhi polls, Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal was urging the INDIA bloc parties to oust Congress from the union for fighting against the AAP. However, it appears that Kejriwal made a mistake by not allying with the Congress. 

On the other hand, Congress also showed that regional parties can hate it but cannot ignore it. In the elections, every vote counts and a few votes can change the result in the opposition’s favour. Congress still commands a significant vote share across India. If Congress is not a winning factor in the polls, then it’s certainly a key to winning factor, as shown in the Delhi election results.

Out of the 699 candidates in the fray, 555 (79.39 per cent) candidates forfeited their deposits in the February 5 polls. It was a sorry state of affairs for the Congress that not only drew a blank in terms of seats for a third time in a row, but 67 of its candidates also lost their security deposits. The Congress, which ruled Delhi for three consecutive terms till 2013, had fielded candidates in all 70 constituencies.

Only three Congress candidates — Abhishek Dutt from Kasturba Nagar, the only leader from the party to finish second, Rohit Choudhary from Nangloi Jat and Devendra Yadav from Badli — managed to save their security deposits. Shifa-ur-Rehman Khan of AIMIM, which contested two seats, also managed to save his security deposit in Okhla.

According to the Representation of the People Act, 1951, any candidate from the general category contesting an election is required to deposit Rs 10,000 with the Election Commission as a security deposit. For candidates from Scheduled Castes and Tribes, the amount required to be deposited is Rs 5,000.

According to electoral law, the deposit will have to be forfeited if the candidate is not elected and the number of valid votes polled by him or her does not exceed one-sixth of the total number of valid votes polled by all the candidates.

The BJP returned to power in Delhi after more than 26 years, winning 48 of the 70 assembly seats while the AAP won 22 seats.

After an over-a-month-long, high-octane election campaign, the people of the national capital are waiting for the results, which will be declared on Saturday. In the 2025 Assembly polls, Delhi witnessed a tough three-cornered battle between the ruling AAP, the BJP, and the Congress.

The voting for the high-stakes Assembly election took place on Wednesday, February 5, with the AAP eyeing a third straight term, banking on its governance record and welfare schemes, while the BJP and the Congress look at resurgence. As many as 699 candidates are in the fray. The Delhi Assembly elections saw a voter turnout of 60.54 per cent, with 94,51,997 people casting their votes on Wednesday, according to the Election Commission of India.

Of the voters who exercised their franchise, 50.42 lakh were men while 44.08 lakh were women. Also, 403 third-gender voters participated in the polling process. The counting of votes will take place on Saturday. In the 2020 polls, Delhi recorded a turnout of 62.59 per cent while only 56 per cent of the voters in the national capital participated in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

All arrangements are in place for the counting process. Voting was held in Delhi on February 5. DCP West Delhi Vichitra Veer talked about security arrangements at the counting centre near Tihar Jail. “Three-layered security is deployed outside the strong rooms. We have identified the sensitive spots, and we are planning flag marches in those areas to give a message that sufficient force is available and we are committed to maintaining peace in the area… There will be some restrictions on the movement of vehicles around the areas of the counting centres,” he said.

Exit polls have predicted that BJP will win a comfortable victory in the polls with AAP falling behind and Congress continuing its dismal show. AAP leaders, however, said that exit polls have always predicted the party winning fewer seats than it gets. They expressed confidence in the party returning to power.

Key seats include New Delhi, where AAP leader and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is in the fray against Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit and Parvesh Verma of BJP.

Delhi Chief Minister Atishi is facing a contest from BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri and Congress candidate Alka Lamba. The campaign saw sharp exchanges between leaders of the three parties.

The AAP dominated the 2020 assembly elections by winning 62 out of 70 seats, while the BJP got eight seats. Congress, which was in power for 15 consecutive years in Delhi, has suffered setbacks in the last two assembly elections and has failed to win any seats.

A hilarious meme shows Delhi’s Former CM Arvind Kejriwal in the boxing ring in which he is defeated by PM Modi. The video goes viral on social media and attracts people’s attention.

#DelhiElectionResults pic.twitter.com/lSGXnWGwZP — Lala (@FabulasGuy) February 8, 2025

Another meme humorously features Congress leader Rahul Gandhi checking the number of zeros, poking fun at the party for failing to secure even a single seat.

#DelhiElectionResults 

Tough fight between AAP and BJP 

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi for the 3rd time: pic.twitter.com/nChQgVvnHc

The meme depicts Swati Maliwal celebrating AAP’s defeat, expressing her joy over the party’s defeat in the election.

Reason of तख्ता पलट #DelhiElectionResults pic.twitter.com/OVKGcDnjEh — memes_hallabol (@memes_hallabol) February 8, 2025

Another meme shows Kejriwal claiming, “Desh mein Modi ki koi hawa nahin hai!” (There is no Modi wave in the country). In response, PM Modi humorously suggests that Kejriwal remove his muffler and feel the air.

Thand ka mahool hai. #DelhiElectionResults pic.twitter.com/tZh2IvmtXc — Shubham Sakhuja (@ishubhamsakhuja) February 8, 2025

The main contest was between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party while the Congress was looking to regain its foothold in the Union Territory. 

While Arvind Kejriwal, Atishi, Saurabh Bhardwaj and Akhilesh Yadav campaigned for AAP, the Congress campaign was spearheaded by Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Pawan Khera, Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior party leaders.

For the BJP, the star campaigners were Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, party chief JP Nadda and other senior leaders. 

The 70 seats of the Delhi assembly voted in a single phase on February 5. The current session of the Delhi assembly will conclude on February 23.

Constituency

AAP

BJP

CONGRESS

NARELA

Sharad Kumar

Raj Karan Khatri

Aruna Kumari

BURARI

Sanjeev Jha

Shailendra Kumar -JDU

Mangesh Tyagi

TIMARPUR

Surender Pal Singh

Surya Prakash Khatri

Lokendra Singh

ADARSH NAGAR

Mukesh Goel

Raj Kumar Bhatia

Shivank Singhal

BADLI

Ajesh Yadav

Deepak Chaudhary

Devendra Yadav

RITHALA

Mohinder Goyal

Kulwant Rana

Sushant Mishra

BAWANA

Jai Bhagwan

Ravinder Kumar

Surendra Kumar

MUNDKA

Jasbir Karala

Gajendra Drall

Dharam Pal Lakra

KIRARI

Anil Jha

Bajrang Shukla

Rajesh Gupta

SULTANPUR MAJRA

Mukesh Ahlawat

Karam Singh Karma

Jai Kishan

NANGLOI JAT

Raghuvinder Shokeen

Manoj Kumar Shokeen

Rohit Chaudhary

MANGOL PURI

Rakesh Jatav

Raj Kumar Chauhan

Hanuman Chauhan

ROHINI

Pradeep Mittal

Vijender Gupta

Sumesh Gupta

SHALIMAR BAGH

Bandana Kumari

Rekha Gupta

Praveen Jain

SHAKUR BASTI

Satyendra Jain

Karnail Singh

Satish Luthra

TRI NAGAR

Preeti Tomar

Tilak Ram Gupta

Satendra Sharma

WAZIRPUR

Rajesh Gupta

Poonam Sharma

Ragini Nayak

MODEL TOWN

Akhilesh Pati Tripathi

Ashok Goel

Kunwar Karan Singh

SADAR BAZAR

Som Dutt

Manoj Jindal

Anil Bhardwaj

CHANDNI CHOWK

Punardeep Singh

Satish Jain

Mudit Agarwal

MATIA MAHAL

Mohammed Iqbal

Deepti Indora

Aseem Ahmed Khan

BALLIMARAN

Imran Hussain

Kamal Bagri

Haroon Yusuf

KAROL BAGH

Vishesh Ravi

Dushyant Kr Gautam

Rahul Dhanak

PATEL NAGAR

Parvesh Ratan

Krishna Tirath

Raaj Kr Ananad

MOTI NAGAR

Shiv Charan Goel

Harish Khurana

Rajendra Singh

MADIPUR

Rakhi Bidlan

Kailash Gangwal

JP Panwar

RAJOURI GARDEN

Dhanwati Chandela

Manjinder Sirsa

Dharmpal Chandela

HARI NAGAR

Surendar Setia

Shyam Sharma

Prem Ballabh

TILAK NAGAR

Jarnail Singh

Shweta Saini

PS Bawa

JANAKPURI

Pravin Kumar

Ashish Sood

Harbani Kaur

VIKASPURI

Mahinder Yadav

Pankaj Singh

Jitender Solanki

UTTAM NAGAR

Posh Balyan

Pawan Sharma

Mukesh Sharma

DWARKA

Vinay Mishra

Pradyuman Rajput

Adarsh Shastri

MATIALA

Somesh Shaukeen

Sandeep Sehrawat

Raghuvinder Singh

NAJAFGARH

Tarun Kumar

Neelam Pahalwan

Sushma Yadav

BIJWASAN

Surendar Bhardwaj

Kailash Gahlot

Devinder Sahrawat

PALAM

Joginder Solanki

Kuldeep Solanki

Mange Ram

DELHI CANTT

Virender Singh Kadian

Bhuvan Tanwar

Pradeep Kr Upamanyu

RAJINDER NAGAR

Durgesh Pathak

Umang Bajaj

Vineet Yadav

NEW DELHI

Arvind Kejriwal

Parvesh Verma

Sandeep Dikshit

JANGPURA

Manish Sisodia

Tarvinder Marwah

Farhad Suri

KASTURBA NAGAR

Ramesh Pehalwan

Neeraj Basoya

Abhishek Dutt

MALVIYA NAGAR

Somnath Bharti

Satish Upadhyay

Jitendra Kr Kochar

R K PURAM

Pramila Tokas

Anil Kumar Sharma

Vishesh Tokas

MEHRAULI

Mahendra Chaudhary

Gajainder Yadav

Pushpa Singh

CHHATARPUR

Brahma Singh Tanwar

Kartar Singh Tanwar

Rajinder Tanwar

DEOLI

Prem Kr Chauhan

Deepak Tanwar (LJP-RV)

Rajesh Chaouhan

AMBEDKAR NAGAR

Ajay Dutt

Khushiram Chunar

Jay Prakash

SANGAM VIHAR

Dinesh Mohaniya

Chandan Choudhary

Harsh Chaudhary

GREATER KAILASH

Saurabh Bhardwaj

Sikha Rai

Garvit Singhvi

KALKAJI

Atishi

Ramesh Bidhuri

Alka Lamba

TUGHLAKABAD

Sahi Ram

Rohtas Bidhuri

Virendra Bidhuri

BADARPUR

Ram Singh Netaji

Narayan Dutt Sharma

Arjun Bhadana

OKHLA

Amanatullah Khan

Manish Chaudhary

Ariba Khan

TRILOKPURI

Anjana Parcha

Ravi Kant

Amardeep

KONDLI

Kuldeep Kumar

Priyanka Gautam

Akshay Kumar

PATPARGANJ

Avadh Ojha

Ravinder Singh Negi

Anil Kumar

LAXMI NAGAR

BB Tyagi

Abhay Verma

Sumit Sharma

VISHWAS NAGAR

Deepak Singhla

Om Prakash Sharma

Rajiv Chaudhary

KRISHNA NAGAR

Vikas Bagga

Dr. Anil Goyal

Gurcharan Singh

GANDHI NAGAR

Naveen Choudhary

Arvinder Singh Lovely

Kamal Arora

SHAHDARA

Jitendra Singh Shunty

Sanjay Goyal

Jagat Singh

SEEMA PURI

Veer Singh Dhingan

Kr Rinku

Rajesh Lilothia

ROHTAS NAGAR

Sarita Singh

Jitender Mahajan

Sureshwati

SEELAMPUR

Zubair Chaudhary

Anil Gaur

Abdul Rehman

GHONDA

Gaurav Sharma

Ajay Mahawar

Bheesham Sharma

BABARPUR

Gopal Rai

Anil Vasistha

Haji Mohd Ishraq Khan

GOKALPUR

Surendra Kumar

Praveen Nimesh

Ishwar Singh

MUSTAFABAD

Adil Ahmad Khan

Mohan Singh Bisht

Ali Mahndi

KARAWAL NAGAR

Manoj Tyagi

Kapil Mishra

Dr PK Mishra

In the 2020 Delhi assembly elections, the AAP got 62 seats while the BJP managed to win just 8 seats. The Congress party drew a blank.

According to multiple exit polls for the Delhi assembly elections (70 seats), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is projected to secure a range of seats between 10 and 34, while the BJP+ alliance is expected to win between 36 and 61 seats. The Congress is predicted to get a negligible number of seats, with estimates ranging from 0 to 3 across different surveys.

The Axis My India exit poll suggests that AAP may win between 15 and 25 seats, while BJP+ could secure 45 to 55 seats, and Congress may get 0 to 1 seat. The Maha Exit Poll by Axis My India reports the vote share percentages for Delhi, with AAP at 42%, BJP+ at 48%, Congress at 7%, and Others at 3%.

The Chanakya Strategies exit poll estimates AAP’s seat share at 25-28, BJP+ at 39-44, and Congress at 2-3 seats.

The CNX exit poll predicts that AAP might secure only 10-19 seats, while BJP+ could dominate with 49-61 seats, and Congress may get 0-1 seat.

The DV Research exit poll provides the highest estimate for AAP, predicting 26-34 seats, while BJP+ is expected to win 36-44 seats, and Congress is not projected to win any seats (0-0).

These results indicate a potential BJP+ lead in Delhi, while AAP remains a strong contender in the electoral battle. If the exit poll results come true on Feb 8, it will mark BJP’s return to power in Delhi after 27 years while AAP will have to warm the opposition benches after ruling for a decade.

The voting for the high-stakes Assembly elections began, with the Aam Aadmi Party eyeing a third straight term, banking on its governance record and welfare schemes, while the BJP and the Congress look at resurgence.

There are over 1.56 crore voters eligible to cast their ballots from 7 am onwards on Wednesday. Voting will be taking place across 13,766 polling stations in all the 70 Assembly constituencies to decide the fates of 699 candidates in a contest that could reshape the political landscape of the capital.

Nearly 3,000 polling booths have been identified as sensitive, and special security arrangements, including drone surveillance, Quick Reaction Team, Striking Team and one company of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) have been deployed to maintain law and order.

“All Delhi Police personnel are committed to ensuring free, fair, and peaceful elections. The pre-poll arrangements have already been done and all the senior staff of the Delhi Police are on the ground to ensure peaceful election,” Special Commissioner of Police (SPNO Delhi Assembly Elections) Devesh Chandra Srivastva said.

He said that 220 companies of paramilitary forces out of which 150 companies of CAPF and 70 companies of 10 different states, along with over 30,000 police personnel, 9,000 Home Guards, and all the senior police officers of Delhi Police have been deployed.

Srivastva said that robust security arrangements are in place across the national capital. He said all the 65 border points that Delhi shares with Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have already been sealed and heavy deployment of security has been put in place. He said that from January 7 to February 3, the Delhi Police has recorded 1,076 cases of alleged MCC violations and arrested or detained 34,250 people for it.

“These are cases lodged between January 7, when the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into force, and February 3 which was the last day of campaigning for the Delhi Assembly polls. Our teams have also confiscated 469 illegal firearms and 513 cartridges with 491 people arrested under the Arms Act,” said the Special CP.

Police have also seized 1,10,093 litres of liquor and 1,381 people were arrested for it. He said that due to strict vigil, police seized 196.602 kg of drugs worth over Rs 77.9 crore and more than 1,200 banned injections were also seized and arrested 177 people for it.

As per the Zee News Exit Poll, the AAP is likely to get 33-38 seats while the BJP may get 31-36 seats and the Congress might lose again with 0-2 seats. However, here are possible trends from key Muslim majority seats: 

AAP’s Amanatullah Khan is leading with 40% support. BJP’s Manish Chaudhary is close behind with 35% support. Congress’ Areeba Khan is trailing at 5%.

BJP’s Manoj Singh Bisht is leading with 55% chances of victory. AAP’s Aadil Ahmed Khan has 35% support. Congress’ Ali Mehandi holds 10%.

AAP’s Gopal Rai is leading with 46% support. BJP’s Anil Vashishtha is in a tight contest with 44%. Congress’ Hai Mohammed Khan has 10% support.

AAP’s Imran Hussain is the clear frontrunner with 59% support. BJP’s Kamal Bagadi follows with 31%. Congress’ Harun Yusuf is at 10%.

Muslim-majority seats have historically favored AAP and Congress, but the BJP’s possible inroads in areas like Mustafabad and Babarpur indicate a changing political dynamic. If these trends hold, the battle for Delhi’s 2025 assembly elections could be much closer this year, making these Muslim-dominated constituencies a decisive factor in who forms the next government.

This holiday enables state government employees who are registered voters in Delhi to cast their votes. Schools, colleges and government institutions will also be closed in Delhi on February 5 on account of the elections.

As per an official statement, the provision falls under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, and Section 135-B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (amended in 1996), allowing eligible employees from the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi to exercise their franchise.

Additionally, employees of factories, shops, and private establishments in Haryana who are registered voters in Delhi are also entitled to paid leave for voting.

Elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly will be held on February 5, and the votes counted on February 8.

Highlighting the impact of the welfare schemes given by the AAP government in Delhi, Kejriwal asserted that every household in the national capital saves an average of Rs 25,000 a month. He further emphasized that if the party returns to power, its new initiatives will add another Rs 10,000 to people’s savings, party supremo Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday.

“Our volunteers will reach out to people and get them to fill the ‘Bachat Patra,’ in which they will note how much they are saving through our free welfare initiatives,” the former Delhi CM said during the launch of the ‘Bachat Patra’ campaign.

Under the AAP government’s policies, an average Delhi family saves Rs 25,000 per month, and if people bring the party back to power by pressing the button against the ‘jhadhu’ (broom—AAP’s election symbol), then its new schemes will add another Rs 10,000 to this. He said schemes like free bus travel for students, Mahila Samman Yojana, and Sanjeevani Yojana, all proposed in the AAP’s manifesto, are among such initiatives.

With the Union Budget set to be presented on February 1, Kejriwal contrasted the AAP’s policies with the BJP’s approach. “Budgets usually bring inflation and impact household finances. But in Delhi, our government ensures savings for every family. On the other hand, the BJP has repeatedly said it will discontinue these benefits if it comes to power,” he claimed. He also accused the BJP of diverting public funds to benefit its corporate allies.

“We use the budget for the welfare of people while the BJP directs it towards its businessman friends. In Mumbai, they handed over Dharavi land to one of their associates. In Delhi, their goal is to grab land and not to serve people,” he said.

Delhi is set to go to polls on February 5, and counting of votes will take place on February 8. In the upcoming polls, the national capital is set to witness a three-cornered battle. AAP is seeking a third consecutive term in office while the BJP is attempting to regain power in the national capital for the first time since 1998.

(With agency Inputs)