Exit polls predict return of KCR

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is all set to form the government, according to most exit polls, with a tally that may come close to halfway mark 

The confidence of victory for TRS is evident from the words of the Chief Minister himself after casting his vote in Siddipet Assembly constituency. "This is the second or third time in Telangana that a pro-incumbency government is coming back," claimed KCR, after casting his vote in his native village Chinthamadaka in Siddipet Assembly constituency from where his nephew T Harish Rao, Irrigation Minister in the dissolved Assembly, is contesting.

"You need not have any doubts. By evening you will see the exit polls. There is a pro-incumbency wave across the state. You can expect good results," KCR told the journalists waiting outside the polling booth. The ruling TRS will get 66 seats, Congress 37, BJP 7 and others, including MIM will get 9, according to Times Now-CNX exit poll. 

India Today - Axis My India exit poll predicted 79 to 91 seats for the TRS, 21 to 33 for Congress, 1 to 3 for the BJP. The exit poll has projected 4 to 7 seats for others, including MIM. According to the exit poll conducted by Republic TV’s Jan Ki Baat, the TRS is getting 57 seats,



Congress 45, MIM 6 and BJP 5 seats. 

In 2014, when the state was formed, the TRS won a simple majority in the House winning 63 seats, while the Congress won only 21. Fighting as partners, the TDP and the BJP won 15 and five seats, respectively, while the MIM won its traditional strongholds in 7 seats. 

After coming to power, the TRS not only gobbled up the small remaining MLAs – three from the YSR Congress, two from the Bahujan Samaj Party, but also most of the TDP legislators, and a few from the Congress. 

Assembly polls in Telangana were originally scheduled to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections next year, but the House was dissolved on September 6, in what was seen as a clever move by Chief Minister KCR.  Just ahead of the elections, the Congress stitched together the People's Front along with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) and the CPI to take on the ruling TRS. 

While KCR was without doubt the star campaigner for the TRS, the Congress and the BJP fielded their bigwigs for campaigning which turned out to be a shrill one. 

Counting of votes would be taken up on December 11.