The counting of votes has begun with the counting of postal ballots for 70 assembly seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is trying to make a comeback in Delhi after 27 years, has taken an early lead in 24 seats.

The incumbent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, is trailing with a lead in 21 seats. This is a decisive contest for the AAP, which is looking for a fourth term after dominating the national capital for two consecutive terms.

Exit polls have predicted a victory for the BJP, winning around 40-45 seats in the 70-member assembly. Meanwhile, the AAP has struggled to cross the majority mark of 36 and the Congress is trailing with almost no seats, most pollsters believe.

Top AAP leaders including party convenor Arvind Kejriwal and incumbent chief minister Atishi are trailing. From an early lead, Kejriwal is trailing BJP's Parvesh Sahib Singh in the first round, while Atishi is trailing in Kalkaji. Former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, Saurabh Bharadwaj and Gopal Rai are leading in Jangpura, Greater Kailash and Babarpur seats.

1. BJP's Kapil Mishra leading by 3,109 votes in Karawal Nagar

2. BJP's Tilak Ram Gupta leading by 3,373 votes in Tri Nagar.

3. BJP's Sanjay Goel (Shahdara), Chandan Choudhary (Sangam Vihar) and Bajrang Shukla (Kirari) are also leading.

4. AAP's Gopal Rai (Babarpur) and Durgesh Pathak (Rajinder Nagar) are leading.

5. Delhi chief minister Atishi is also trailing in Kalkaji.

In Karawal Nagar constituency, BJP's Kapil Mishra is leading by 6,470 votes after 2 rounds of voting. AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal is trailing as per early trends, while BJP's Parvesh Verma is leading.

BJP candidates Anil Sharma (RK Puram) and Raj Kumar Anand (Patel Nagar) offered prayers and expressed certainty about their party's victory. Former CM Sheila Dixit's daughter praised Sandeep Dixit's clean campaign strategy.

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