New Delhi: Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari urged his party workers not to be “disheartened” as AAP maintained a big lead in the counting of votes on Tuesday. “There are several rounds of counting. I will tell our workers there is no need to be disheartened. We are in a good position. In 27 seats, there is only a 1,000-vote gap between AAP and BJP,” Manoj Tiwari said. “Anything can happen.”
Asked about an AAP leader comparing him to “Hanuman burning Lanka”, Tiwari said: “It is not right to say such things. Let us see how things finally stand.”
A senior BJP MP, RK Sinha, however, was a bit more staid about his party’s chances of catching up. “As far as the trends are showing, AAP is far ahead. Anything above 40 is a comfortable margin. I think they are coming back,” Sinha told NDTV.
He continued: “Electorate now is quite mature. Every election, they vote for their own merit. Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha and local body elections, they vote differently. Maybe we haven’t been able to manage what Kejriwal delivered or promised.”
Before counting began, Tiwari had said he was confident of winning “up to 55 seats” in the 70-member assembly.
“We will win 48-plus seats. I will not be surprised even if we win 55,” the BJP leader had said, rejecting exit poll predictions of AAP winning a third straight term.
“It’s time for exact polls after exit polls,” quipped the actor-singer turned politician. A party needs 36 in the Delhi assembly for a majority.
