Telangana Elections: KCR's TRS rules out alliance with BJP, Congress drops coalition hints with AIMIM

In what could be a big blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of crucial Assembly polls result, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), led by caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday rubbished the buzz around post-poll alliance with the BJP to form the government in the state. Two days after most exit polls predicted TRS's victory with a healthy majority in the state, party spokesperson Bhanu Prasad said that they don’t need any alliance and will form the government on their own.

"We don’t need any alliance, we will form the Government on our own. We are confident that we will win enough seats," Prasad was quoted by ANI as saying.

TRS's statement came hours after the state BJP said it was ready to ally with "anyone except the Congress or (Asaduddin Owaisi's party) AIMIM".

Read | Telangana Exit Poll 2018: Hung Assembly projected, KCR-led TRS in close fight with Congress-TDP alliance

Speaking to news agency ANI, Telangana BJP chief K Laxman said, "There can't be a government without BJP in Telangana. In case people have not given a clear mandate, we will be a part of government. We will not support Congress or AIMIM, but other options are open. The decision will be taken in consultation with our high command".

We don’t need any alliance, we will form the Government on our own. We are confident that we will win enough seats: Bhanu Prasad,TRS Spokesperson #TelanganaElections2018 https://t.co/jYL2jdQTwO

— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2018

State Congress chief GN Reddy, on the other hand, dropped hint about another alliance with Owaisi's party, saying "If the TRS goes with BJP, AIMIM can sail with us if they want to". Earlier, the Rahul Gandhi-led party tied up with long-time rival Chandrababu Naidu's TDP to oust KCR from the south Indian state.

Read | Asaduddin Owaisi hits back at Yogi Adityanth: 'I am number one citizen of India'

Owaisi, however, has chosen to remain tight-lipped on the Congress’s statement welcoming AIMIM to Praja Kutami, adding that “we should wait for the result”.

Asaduddin Owaisi to ANI: TRS is going to form the government in Telangana on their own strength, all the speculations which are being raised are baseless. We should wait for the result. I don’t want to comment on the Congress welcoming AIMIM to Praja Kutami (file pic) pic.twitter.com/LUJYGWQmlq

— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2018

While five out of 11 exit polls have given an outright majority to KCR-led TRS in the state, some post poll survey projected the first hung assembly in the state.

As per the News Nation Exit Poll, TRS is likely to emerge as the single largest party with 53-57 seats in the state while the Congress-TDP-led “mahakutumi" grand alliance in a neck-and-neck fight may bag 51-55 seats. Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM is projected to bag 3-7 seats. The BJP may also open its account in the south Indian state and was predicted to win 1-5 seats.

Read | Modi's move to wreck Telangana alliance that Rahul, Naidu want for 2019 Lok Sabha polls

The voting for the 119-member Telangana Assembly elections was held on December 7 and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 11 along with Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram.