Early exit-poll results conducted by Doordarshan indicate that the opposition Congress is set to sweep Delhi and Rajasthan, while BJP is slightly ahead of the ruling Congress in Madhya Pradesh in the assembly elections for which polling was held on Wednesday.

In the north-eastern state of Mizoram, the opposition combine, Mizo National Front (MNF) and Mizo Peoples Congress (MPC), is poised to sweep the polls with the ruling Congress doing very badly, according to the poll conducted at 2 pm.

The exit poll, conducted by a leading public-opinion agency, Development and Research Services (DRS), gives the Congress a three-fourth majority in the 70 member Assembly in Delhi. The party is set to capture 52 seats conceding only 14 to BJP and three toothers.

The results appear to be just a reversal of the 1993 elections when BJP won 49 seats compared to just 14 by the Congress. Others had won seven seats.

In the elections to the 200-member assembly in Rajasthan, Congress is way ahead of the ruling BJP, polling 46 per cent of the votes cast against 37 by BJP, the poll said.

Significantly, a large number of rebels belonging to both BJP and Congress are said to be doing well in the state, where `others' category has polled 17 per cent votes.

In the 320-member Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, where Congress is facing the anti-incumbency factor, the party is trailing closely behind the opposition BJP.

While BJP has polled about 41 per cent, Congress was close behind at 40 per cent. Others account for 19 per cent, including 10 per cent by BSP candidates, the exit poll said.

In view of the expected setbacks, nervous BJP leaders began looking ahead to what is expected to be an intensely trying winter session of Parliament. The party is also gearingup for some serious fire-fighting, both within the party and with its allies.

The exit poll presenters Nalini Singh and psephologist G V L Narsimha Rao clarified that the exit poll was based on a survey of 110 constituencies in all the four states and covered 12,000 voters.