Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut has dismissed the exit polls predicting the outcome of the Delhi assembly elections on Thursday, citing past discrepancies between pre-election surveys and actual results.
"Exit polls come and go. We also saw Maharashtra and Haryana exit polls; it looked like we were going to form the government. Things will be clear at 10 am on February 8," Raut said. The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader further asserted that exit polls had previously projected a victory for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra and Congress in Haryana, yet the final results differed. Raut expressed confidence that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will come to power, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will not win. "The final decision will be out on February 8. The Exit Polls said that MVA will win in Maharashtra and Congress will win in Haryana... We are sure that the BJP will not win in Delhi and the AAP will come to power...," he added. Delhi recorded a voter turnout of 60.42% in the high-stakes assembly elections, with the Northeast district recording the highest turnout at 66.25% and the Southeast district recording the lowest at 56.16%. The Election Commission of India reported active participation of voters across all 70 constituencies. Other districts' turnout percentages were -- Central district (59.09 per cent), East district (62. 37 per cent), New Delhi district (57.13 per cent), North district (59.55 per cent), North West district (60.07 per cent), Shahdara district (63. 94 per cent), South district (58.16 per cent) South-West district (61. 07 per cent) and West district (60. 76 per cent). Meanwhile, most of the exit polls predicted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is poised to form the next government in Delhi, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) falling behind, and that the Congress was likely to continue its dismal run in the assembly polls. Exit poll predictions varied on the margin of BJP's victory. One poll predicted the BJP could win 51-60 out of 70 assembly seats, while two polls forecast an AAP victory. The exit polls were released after the conclusion of voting on Wednesday. (ANI)
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