As the various exit polls rolled out on the evening of Sunday, 19 May, hinting at a comeback for PM Narendra Modi-led NDA government, one observation that stood out was the near rout of Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party.
Almost all exit polls suggested that the AAP will not be able to win a single seat, or at best will bag a solitary one. This, despite the party claiming to have sizeable influence in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana.
While the AAP was in talks with the Congress for potential alliance in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, the talks fell through after weeks of topsy-turvy turn of events.
Here is a lowdown on how the exit polls expect the party to fare in these three states:
Delhi
Kejriwal’s party may have won an overwhelming majority in the Delhi Assembly in 2015 but a three-cornered contest against the Congress and BJP has hurt the AAP.
The Times Now-VMR exit poll predicted six seats to BJP and one to Congress.
CNN-IPSOS and India Today exit too polls mirrored a similar prediction. The News24-Chanakya exit poll predicted a clean sweep for BJP in the capital city.
The ABP-Nielsen survey, on the other hand, is the only exit poll that predicted a seat for the AAP.
In 2014, the BJP had won all the seven seats in Delhi.
Punjab
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the AAP created significant impact in Punjab by winning four seats.
In the Assembly polls that followed in 2017, the party made its presence felt – by winning 16 seats and becoming the principal Opposition party in the state.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, however, multiple exit polls predict zero seats for the AAP in Punjab.
The CNN-News18 IPSOS survey is the only exit poll which gives one seat to the party.
Haryana
In Haryana, the AAP has an alliance Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) led by Dushyant Chautala.
While it contested four seats in the state, all exit polls predicted that the party would win one of them.
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