New Delhi, Feb 8: Counting of votes began for 70 Assembly constituencies of the national Capital on Saturday morning. Early trends show huge gains for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), big blow to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and another decimation for the Congress party.

The capital fight has largely been restricted to the fluctuating numbers game between the BJP and the AAP, however, it is the insipid show by the Congress party that speaks volumes about the party’s failing fortunes in the Union Territory (UT) that it ruled for fifteen years in a row, under former Chief Minister, late Sheila Dikshit.

Early trends showed the Congress taking a lead in just one seat, that of Badli constituency, after initial rounds of counting, however, this margin also got eroded after a few rounds. Latest trends show the party heading for a duck.

If the grand old party ends with 0 seats, this will mark its third consecutive defeat in Delhi Assembly elections. The wipeout will mark a hat-trick of the party drawing a duck for three consecutive terms.

Such a dismal show by the party comes despite its top leaders hitting the campaign trial with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi holding multiple rallies before the elections.

The vote share of the Congress party has also been disappointing over the years.

After initial rounds of counting of votes on Saturday, the BJP and AAP have crossed 40 per cent in vote percentage but the grand old party is seen hovering in single digits, at around 6 per cent, marking a little improvement from the 2020 numbers, which stood at 5.44 per cent.

The last time, the Congress opened its accounts in the capital was way back in the 2013 elections, when it won 8 seats. It was the same year, when the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP took a plunge in the electoral arena.

In the 2015 Assembly elections, the AAP won 67 seats (with 54.3 per cent vote share), BJP 3 (with 32 per cent vote share) while the Congress drew a blank (with a moderate 9 per cent vote share).

In the 2020 Assembly elections, the Congress' rout continued, with the party ending at 0 seats with a below 5 per cent vote share. Then also, the AAP stormed to power with yet another stellar show by winning 62 out of 70 seats while the BJP managed to bag the rest 8 seats.

--IANS

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