Exit polls on television channels, from those considered aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party to those seen as relatively neutral, were consistent in forecasting a virtual landslide for the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party in the Delhi assembly elections, which were conducted on 8 February.

BJP leaders, from those who briefed media after the end of a party meeting on Saturday, to the ones who turned up at TV channels to represent the party, were consistent in saying that "exit polls were not exact polls", that the sample size was minuscule and did not factor the late evening spike in voter turnout.

Yet, public denial of the inevitable by these BJP leaders was matched by admissions in private that the party’s vanvas (exile) in Delhi is set to continue. Already, it has been 22 years since the BJP lost power in this mini-‘state’ and it appears set to be extended for another five years.

The BJP may wish to make light of a likely defeat by citing its hundred percent strike rate in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and 2019, but in politics, there are no consolation prizes.