New Delhi, February 8: Despite the national capital witnessing a heated and "polarising" campaign over the last 12 days, the voter turnout in Delhi assembly elections 2020 suggested a depreciated enthusiasm among the electorate vis-a-vis 2015. Even as voting shrunk by nearly six percentage points, the exit polls suggested a massive pro-incumbency wave in favour of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Delhi Elections 2020: Manoj Tiwari Rejects Exit Polls, Says 'BJP Will Win 48 Seats...Don't Blame EVMs Then'.

The final voter turnout, recorded as 61.43 percent, is lower than 67.2 percent registered in the last assembly polls. Reports claimed that the turnout was larger in pockets sizing low-income groups and the working class. The section of populace is considered to be solidly backing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has gained loyalty of a considerable section of voters by waiving off the water bills and halving the electricity charge. AAP to Retain Power With Decisive Majority, BJP Distant 2nd, Predicts Poll of Exit Polls.

The aggregate of all major exit polls, released shortly after the elections ended, predicted another landslide victory for the Kejriwal-led party. While all the post-poll surveys predicted an AAP win, the maximum seats were projected by India Today-My Axis exit poll, which forecasted a victory in upto 68 seats for the party. The BJP, at maximum, is predicted to win 26 seats by the Times Now-IPSOS survey.

Poll of Polls | Here's How The Exit Poll Numbers Are Stacked Up

Exit-Poll Survey Agency AAP BJP Congress
Times Now-IPSOS 41-47 23-29 0
India Today-Axis My India  59-68  2-11  0
ABP-CVoter 49-63 5-19 0-4
Republic Jan Ki Baat 48-61 9-21 0-1
TV9- Baharatvarsh-Cicero 54 15 1
NewsX-Pollstrat 50-56 10-14 0
Results 2015 67 3 0

Delhi witnessed a high-octane campaign during the last lap of elections, with the BJP top brass aggressively raking up national issues to shift focus away from AAP's education and healthcare poll plank. While Kejriwal wanted the polls to be referendum on his government's five-year performance, BJP's second-in-command Amit Shah termed the poll battle as "Shaheen Bagh protesters" versus the "children of Bharat Mata".

If the exit poll numbers are reflective of the final outcome, the Opposition would receive a shot in the arm in its anti-CAA-NRC campaign against the Narendra Modi-led government. According to pollsters, the BJP leadership may be compelled to re-calibrate its approach on sensitive issues. The party, despite pushing with the triple talaq legislation, abrogating Article 370 and spearheading the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), failed to yield electoral dividends in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and, apparently, in Delhi as well.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 08, 2020 11:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).