The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Delhi unit on Tuesday asked party workers not to be “disheartened” as counting of votes for the Assembly elections was underway. According to the Election Commission, the Aam Aadmi Party was leading in 57 out of 70 seats around 11.45 am. A party needs to win 36 seats for a majority. The BJP was ahead in 13 seats.

“There are several rounds of counting,” said Manoj Tiwari. “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. Anything can happen.”

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Before the counting began, Tiwari had said that he was confident that the saffron party would win “up to 55 seats”. He had said: “We will win 48-plus seats. I will not be surprised even if we win 55.”

Most exit polls have predicted that the AAP would comfortably sweep the elections to retain power in the national Capital. However, Tiwari rejected the predictions. “It’s time for exact polls after exit polls,” said the actor-singer turned politician.

However, another BJP leader sounded cautious about being too hopeful. “As far as the trends are showing, AAP is far ahead,” RK Sinha told NDTV. “Anything above 40 is a comfortable margin. I think they are coming back.” He said that voters now vote differently in different elections, indicating Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. “Maybe we haven’t been able to manage what Kejriwal delivered or promised,” he added.

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Meanwhile, a poster in the BJP office in Delhi also spoke of defeat, reported Hindustan Times. “Victory doesn’t make us egoistic, and defeat doesn’t disappoint us,” read the poster that also has a picture of Union Home Minister Amit Shah who led the party’s campaign for the Assembly elections. However, a party leader said the poster has been there for ages.

In the last Assembly polls in 2015, the AAP had won 67 seats and the BJP three.