The Congress will speak to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu, both erstwhile allies to explore options for government formation, senior leaders of the party said today. INDIA bloc ally Uddhav Thackeray was the first to go public, saying the Congress intends to talk to both leaders. Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid was more circumspect. "We will work towards getting all alliance partners and other to form a stable government," he said.

The possibility opens up due to the narrow gap between the projected numbers of the NDA and the INDIA bloc.

Mr Kumar's Janata Dal-United and Mr Naidu's Telugu Desam Party can together add 28 seats to the tally.

A switch in sides is likely to take the INDIA bloc numbers from 232 to 260 -- where the NDA numbers will drop without the two key allies. It will leave both short of 12 seats, where Independents are expected to help.

Trends at 10 pm indicate that NDA is likely to get 20-odd seats over the majority mark of 272 seats. Mr Kumar's Janata Dal-United and Mr Naidu's Telugu Desam Party can together add 28 seats to the tally.

A switch in sides is likely to take the INDIA bloc numbers from 232 to 260 -- where the NDA numbers will drop without the two key allies. It will leave both short of 12 seats, where Independents are expected to help.

The INDIA bloc is holding a meeting today where this and other related issues are expected to be discussed.

Convention dictates that the President invite the party or group that crosses the majority mark to form government, as reported by NDTV.

As allies, both Kumar and Naidu have a spotty record. Kumar has acquired something of a reputation for his frequent change of sides five times over the last decade, the last one, from the INDIA alliance to the BJP, in February.

Mr Naidu, who started out by being a part of NDA, had walked out of the alliance ahead of the 2019 election, only to join back ahead of the current one.