Praja Kutami

The Praja Kutami (transl. People's Alliance) or Maha Kutami (transl. Grand Alliance)^[1] was an electoral alliance between the Indian National Congress, Telugu Desam Party, Communist Party of India, and the Telangana Jana Samithi in the run-up to the 2018 Telangana Legislative Assembly election. It was formed on 11 September 2018 with the sole purpose of defeating the Telangana Rashtra Samithi in the polls that year.^[2] The party was seen as a major contender during the election campaign,^[3] however, the TRS managed to win a landslide victory and soundly defeated the alliance in the elections.^[4] On 23 January 2019, the alliance was called off when the Congress announced that it would contest all of the seats, both Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha, in the upcoming elections in Andhra Pradesh.^[5] Until then, there were talks about the alliance contesting together in the 2019 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly and general elections.^[6]

The alliance was the first and only time the Congress and the TDP, once arch-rivals, teamed up together to defeat a common enemy.^[1][2] As such, throughout its existence, it was criticised as an 'unholy alliance' by the TRS and the BJP.^[7]