However even if you average the polls out, two conclusions may be drawn. First, AAP is unlikely to sweep Delhi as predicted in pre poll surveys, and Sheila is on her way out.

Calling an exit poll in Delhi tonight is risky stuff, especially given that voting went on till at least 9.15 pm. However that has not stopped the pundits. As many as four exit polls have already been made public, each with a different poll projection for the state.

The Delhi exit polls by C-voter called 20 seats for Congress, 31 for BJP and 15 seats for AAP. AC Nielsen called 16 seats for Congress, 37 for the BJP, and 15 seats for AAP. The exit poll by ORG predicted 20 seats for Congress 20, 41 seats for the BJP and just 6 seats for AAP. And the Chanakya exit poll said Congress would win 10 seats, the BJP 29, and AAP 31.

C-voter and AC Nielsen are fairly similar, but the Chanakya and ORG polls are very different. And most interesting in this scenario, is the take on AAP. While ORG predicts just 6 seats for the party, the Chanakya poll gives the party a massive 31 seats.

However even if you average the polls out, two conclusions may be drawn. First, AAP is unlikely to sweep Delhi as predicted in pre poll surveys, and Sheila is on her way out.

Prashant Bhushan, who was a part of the CNN-IBN panel discussing the exit poll results, said that if the Aam Aadmi Party did indeed only manage to play spoiler and create a hung assembly, it would be disappointing. However he ruled out any possibility of an alliance with either the Congress or BJP. "We will not ally with either party, as we are practicing a different kind of politics to both the Congress and the BJP. To do that would be a betrayal of our voters. If there is a hung assembly, let the BJP and Congress form an alliance, since they are both the same," he said.

Right wing columnist Swapan Dasgupta and Nirmala Sitharaman both had harsh words for AAP. Dasgupta predicted the demise of AAP 'very soon' and said that the philosophies of a section of its leaders were more akin to a Maoist movement, while Sitharaman said that the party had only managed to spread cynicism.

Professor Dipanker Gupta, a political analyst also on the panel, said that the vote for AAP was in fact a protest vote. "Other states have NOTA (None of the Above). But Delhi doesn't need NOTA because it has AAP," he said.

Though grabbing 15 seats is no mean feat by a one-year-old party which claims to have very limited resources, it is also true that, unless it agrees to form an alliance with another party, its victory will be at best symbolic. In fact, the possibility of a drop in the number of seats predicted for the the AAP can be attributed to a perceived absence of method in AAP’s madness.

Be as it may however, and despite the disappointment, this Delhi election is all about AAP.

As Firstpost editor-in-chief R Jagannathan pointed out, "If the BJP ultimately fails to make it to the halfway mark in Delhi – which is 36 seats out of 70 – it can console itself that the vote in the Lok Sabha election in 2014 could be different – since AAP may not cut so much into its national vote where the issues could be different. But it cannot ignore the fact that it failed to reap the complete anti-incumbency vote in an urban constituency.

It will also be left with the disturbing thought that it will have to fight another election in Delhi in 2014 – which may well be held along with the Lok Sabha polls. This could confuse the national vote. In a next Delhi vote, the chances are that the Congress may do even worse – since that is the trajectory – and the main battle will be between AAP and BJP, which could throw up its own surprises. This was a complication the BJP did not need.