India's main opposition BJP expected to gain in Delhi polls

India's ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi shows her ink-marked finger after casting her vote outside a polling station in New Delhi April 10, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

Voters in the Indian capital went to the polls on Thursday, the third day of the mammoth nine-phase general elections across the country, with experts predicting losses for the ruling Congress party.

Delhi's voters chose from 150 candidates, including 58 independents, who are vying for seven seats in the Lok Sabha - the 543-seat lower house of parliament.

Indian general elections enter key phase

The three major parties in the race are the ruling Congress party, the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and the anti-corruption Aam Aadmi Party.

Voting was brisk after the polls opened on Thursday morning and experts said the high turnout suggested gains for the opposition candidates, with the BJP expected to do particularly well.

Congress losses

"In the national capital, the Congress party knows it may not get even a single seat, going by its record in the Delhi Assembly polls in December last year. So, the fight is mainly between the BJP and the AAP, which faces an acid test," said Delhi-based political analyst S.K. Gupta.

"The BJP may emerge as the gainer as many people are unhappy with the AAP, which apparently ditched them by first forming the Delhi government with outside support from the Congress party and then the anti-graft party chief Arvind Kejriwal resigning as chief minister on frivolous grounds," he said.

The AAP did spectacularly well in its debut elections in December, bagging 28 out of 70 seats in Delhi to form the city government. Kejriwal, a former civil servant turned politician, was appointed chief minister for Delhi, but the government lasted only 49 days.

Political analyst Renu Roy said the AAP had lost credibility during its short period in power.

"Though it tried to do its best for the people during those 49 days in power, by suddenly resigning, the AAP lost its support base to a large extent in the national capital. People who voted for the party, which promised to wipe out corruption, felt betrayed by the AAP," he said.