Hyderabad: With just six MLAs left in the Telangana Congress party, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) led by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi is now planning to stake claim to the Opposition party status in the House.

To get the main opposition status, the party must have one-tenth of the strength of the House.

Asaduddin Owiasi told ANI, "We will request the Speaker of Telangana Assembly to give AIMIM the post of Leader of Opposition as we are the second largest party in the state. We have more numbers than Congress. Our party will meet the Speaker and we expect that he will take positive action."

The irony here is that the AIMIM and the ruling TRS are considered friendly parties and the two have supported each other on many issues.

With Congress left decimated, the AIMIM is the second largest party in the state. However, who would be the leader of the Opposition is yet to be finalized.

Speculations are there that two names are considered, one is Asaduddin's younger brother Akbaruddin Owaisi and the other is senior-most legislator in the House, Mumtaz Ahmed Khan.

After Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief N. Uttam Kumar Reddy resigned from the Assembly following his win from the Nalgonda Lok Sabha seat, 12 out of the 18 Congress MLAs in Telangana met speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy and requested the merger of the party.

In the last Assembly elections, the TRS won 88 seats in the 119. If the 12 Congress MLAs join the TRS, the Congress' tally would come down to six.

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