New Delhi, Dec 7 (IANS): Counting for the 250 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi began at 8 a.m. on Wednesday amid tight security arrangements at 42 centres.

A total of 68 observers are overseeing the counting and about 10,000 police personnel are deployed at various counting centres.

The election office has deployed engineers to look into the technical issues of EVM malfunctioning if any complaint comes.

There are a total 1,349 candidates in the fray.

The exit polls have predicted a big win for the AAP. The BJP has been at the helm for the past 15 years in the MCD and it ran a high-pitched campaign as senior leaders of the the BJP campaigned in the elections.

On the eve of the announcement of the MCD election results, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday predicted a landslide victory for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

"This mandate will be a signal from Delhi to the whole country that AAP is a fiercely-honest party. The BJP levelled fake allegations against me, ran a witch-hunt against Satyendar Jain. But the people of Delhi have proven with their mandate that there was no scam in Delhi and all the allegations levelled by the BJP were false, motivated by conspiracy and dirty politics," Sisodia said.

He added that the people of Delhi will reject the BJP's lies, conspiracy and dishonesty, and choose CM Arvind Kejriwal's honesty and work-based politics.