Indian premier's party faces defeat in New Delhi elections
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party is facing defeat in state assembly elections for the capital, New Delhi, exit polls show.
The exit polls indicated on Saturday that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has comfortably beaten Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Some opinion polls had earlier given AAP leader, Arvind Kejriwal, a clear majority against BJP candidate, Kiran Bedi, a former senior police officer.
The official results of the elections are scheduled to be released on Tuesday.
More than 13 million people were eligible to go to the polls at almost 12,000 polling stations to elect representatives to the capital city’s 70-seat legislative assembly. Over 64,000 police personnel had been deployed across New Delhi to ensure security in the elections, which had 673 candidates.
Sources say the BJP’s campaign has been marked by infighting among party workers.
The vote has been widely considered as a test of Modi’s popularity.
“Modi has not done enough since coming to power,” media outlets quoted a voter as saying outside a polling booth in south New Delhi.
If the exit polls are confirmed, Premier Modi will face his first state election defeat since sweeping to power last year.
Modi’s party needs to win most of the state elections over the next four years to gain control of both houses of the national parliament to deliver on his promise of economic growth.
In May 2014, the BJP won 274 seats in the 543-seat lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha. However, the ruling party lacks a majority in the South Asian country’s upper house of the parliament, the Rajya Sabha.
JR/HJL/SS
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