MCD election result LIVE: The BJP has emerged the clear winner in all the three corporations at the MCD elections with the Aam Aadmi Party emerged a distant second and the Congress party picked the third spot.
While the Congress party welcomed the mandate, the Aam Aadmi party blamed Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for the party's dismal performance and the BJP's good show in the MCD polls. "This is not a Modi wave, but an EVM wave," Delhi Labour Minister and senior AAP leader Gopal Rai said.
The AAP leaders including Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia were huddled at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence as the trends showed a poor show by the party. The prospects of a "massive" defeat loomed large over AAP, close on the heels of the bypolls for Rajouri Garden Assembly seat where BJP-Akali Dal candidate won while party candidate lost his security deposit.
Trends showed that AAP was trailing far behind BJP which has been accused by the Kejriwal led party of "corruption and mismanagement" during its 10 year rule. The counting of votes polled in 270 wards began at 8 am. Security personnel belonging to Delhi Police, paramilitary forces and the Home Guards will keep watch at the counting centres. The civic polls were held on 23 April which saw a voter turnout of 53 per cent.
The result will also determine whether the sway of Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, which had stunned all by bagging 67 seats out of 70 in the 2015 Delhi Assembly polls, still holds and whether the party would be able to put behind its humiliating Rajouri Garden bypoll defeat. Kejriwal’s party had also suffered a defeat in Punjab and a whitewash in Goa Assembly polls.
Exit polls predict sweep for BJP in Delhi
* India Today-Axis exit poll claimed the BJP may bag anything between 202 and 220 seats, while the AAP and the Congress will score something around 23-35 and 19-31 respectively.
* The CVoter-ABP exit poll claimed the BJP was likely to sweep Delhi with 218 seats, limiting the AAP and Congress to 24 and 22 seats respectively.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday warned of launching a "movement" if the MCD exit poll results, which have predicted a BJP sweep, come true.
 "MCD election result 2017 LIVE: BJP calls it a mandate against Kejriwal and AAP")
