This comes a day after Kumaraswamy had declared that JD(S) was open to a post-poll alliance with either the Congress or the ruling BJP.Hours before the counting for the Karnataka Assembly Elections begins, ex-Karnataka chief minister and Janata Dal Secular leader HD Kumaraswamy said on Saturday that JD(S) was a small party and he was only looking for development.Speaking to media, Kumaraswamy said, “In the next 2-3 hours, it will become clear. Exit polls show that the two national parties will score in a big way. The exit polls have given 30-32 seats to JD(S). I am a small party, there is no demand for me...I am hoping for a good development.”

This comes a day after Kumaraswamy had declared that JD(S) was open to a post-poll alliance with either the Congress or the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), offering each a potential lifeline.

Exit polls have indicated that Karnataka might face a hung Assembly as the most likely outcome. While some of them gave the Congress an edge, it was not enough to stake an independent claim to the next government.Kumaraswamy's father and ex-prime minister HD Deve Gowda had earlier said that JD(S) had suggested that the party would not engage with the Congress, with whom the JD(S) had allied in 2018 to form an alliance against the BJP which fell in a year as the rebel MLAs walked out.