Delhi Elections: Will Congress-AAP split help BJP return to power after 27 years

NEW DELHI: Exit polls have predicted an end to the 10-year rule of Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi with most of the pollsters giving BJP a majority in the February 5 elections.

If these predictions hold true on February 8 when the votes are counted, it would mark BJP's return to power in the national capital after 27 long years.

Sandeep Dikshit, Arvind Kejriwal and Parvesh Verma (R)

While the BJP helped by its NDA allies went all out to woo Delhi voters, the INDIA bloc was divided in this fight with allies AAP and Congress turning bitter rivals for this high-stakes battle.

The campaign saw Congress and AAP target each other fiercely. Arvind Kejriwal all along alleged that the Congress was contesting these elections to help the BJP, while the grand old party questioned AAP's decade-long governance in the national capital.

Congress, once a dominant political force in Delhi with a government under Sheila Dikshit's leadership for 15 years, has lost much of its traditional voter base to Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Kejriwal, emerging from the India Against Corruption movement, won 28 seats in AAP's 2013 debut outing. Much of these gains were made at the cost of the Congress. In 2015, AAP surged to a sweeping victory, claiming 67 seats and leaving Congress with no representation in the assembly.