NEW DELHI: With the leads indicating that the Congress is likely to get a majority in the Karnataka assembly polls, the party on Saturday said it is now certain that it has won and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “lost” as the BJP had made its election campaign a “referendum on the PM”.

The Congress was striding forward with leads in 117 seats while the BJP was ahead in 75 in Karnataka, according to Election Commission trends, as votes were counted for an election widely seen as a litmus test for both parties ahead of the 2024 parliamentary polls.

“As the results firm up in Karnataka it is now certain that the Congress has won and the PM has lost. The BJP had made its election campaign a referendum on the PM and on the state getting his ‘ashirwaad’. That has been decisively rejected!” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet.

The Congress fought these elections on local issues of livelihood and food security, price rise, farmer distress, electricity supply, joblessness and corruption, he said.

“The PM injected divisiveness and attempted polarisation. The vote in Karnataka is for an engine in Bengaluru that will combine economic growth with social harmony,” Ramesh said.

BENGALURU: Congress workers have reportedly caught a crowd, who allegedly came from Chincholi to Vijayapura to cast fake votes, on Wednesday. The Congress workers alleged that they were brought by the supporters of Vijayapura BJP MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal.

Video clips of several men admitting that they have come in the buses to Vijayapura from Chincholi to cast fake votes have gone viral on social media. One of the men said they were brought to Vijayapura City on Tuesday night and were made to stay in Vijayapura City.

The Congress workers have urged the police to file a case against all the fake voters and said they would also lodge a complaint with the Election Commission demanding stringent action against them.

The voting for the Karnataka assembly elections began at 7 AM today. The state had recorded a voter turnout of 20.99% by 11 AM. 

BENGALURU: Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn has bought a huge tract of land on the outskirts of Indian tech hub Bengaluru, the key Apple supplier said in a filing Tuesday as it looks to diversify production away from China.

Also known by its official name, Hon Hai Precision Industry, Foxconn is the world’s biggest contract electronics manufacturer and a principal assembler of Apple iPhones.

Both companies are seeking to shift manufacturing away from China after strict Covid policies, a bout of industrial unrest and ongoing diplomatic tensions with the United States hurt production.

The 1.2 million-square-metre (13 million-square-foot) acquisition in Devanahalli, near the airport for Bengaluru, was announced in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.

It said that subsidiary Foxconn Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development was paying three billion rupees ($37 million) for the site, the size of more than 50 Manhattan city blocks.

Another Foxconn unit was acquiring land use rights to a 480,000-square-metre site in Vietnam’s Nghe An province, it added.

Karnataka state chief minister Basavaraj S. Bommai said in March that Apple would “soon” manufacture iPhones at a new plant that would create “about 100,000 jobs”.

Bloomberg News reported that month that Foxconn was planning to invest $700 million in a new factory in Karnataka.

Foxconn chairman Young Liu visited the state then and also met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has urged foreign firms to manufacture goods in the South Asian nation.

Foxconn has manufactured Apple handsets in India since 2019 at its plant in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

The company is expected to break ground on a new facility in Telangana state next week, local media reported.

Two other Taiwanese suppliers, Wistron and Pegatron, also manufacture and assemble Apple devices in India.

‘Good growth’

The California-based firm is betting big on the nation of 1.4 billion people — home to the second-highest number of smartphone users in the world, after China.

Navkendar Singh of market intelligence firm International Data Corporation told AFP that Apple had already proved “quite successful” in India, with domestic iPhone sales of 6.7 million last year.

“This is good growth considering that Apple plays at the price range of more than $500 all the time,” he added.

The world’s biggest company in terms of market value is also expanding its manufacturing footprint in India.

Apple said last September it would manufacture its latest iPhone 14 in India, just weeks after launching the flagship model.

The country last year accounted for seven percent of Apple’s iPhone production, according to Bloomberg, lagging behind the United States, China, Japan and other countries.

China, by far the leading producer of Apple products, saw production disrupted by violent protests last November at the country’s largest iPhone factory, also owned by Foxconn.

Hundreds of employees protested over conditions and pay at the plant in the central city of Zhengzhou, spurred in part by public frustration over the government’s zero-tolerance approach to Covid during the pandemic.

“Having contingency or diversification plans helps so you are not too dependent on one region,” Counterpoint Technology Market Research senior analyst Prachir Singh told AFP.

“It’s not like the Chinese operations will come down to zero,” he added. “It is about building a similar world in India so they have multiple locations to rely on.”

BENGALURU:  Four students from Bengaluru, Belagavi and Vijayapura districts secured 625/625 marks in the SSLC exam. KSEAB director HN Gopalakrishna said that the overall pass percentage for the academic year 2022- 23 is 83.89. It was 85.13 last year. In all, 145 students scored full marks last academic year.

Gopalakrishna said the difficulty level of exams was reduced to 10% in 2021-22 on account of the pandemic. It was because of this, the pass percentage was high last year. 

Chitradurga top performer with 96.8%

The toppers are Bhoomika Pai, New Macaulay English High School, Bengaluru; Anupama Shrishail Hireholi, Sri Kumareshwar English Medium High School at Saundatti, Belagavi; Yashas Gowda, Shree BGS School, Belagavi; and Bhimangowda Patil, Oxford English Medium High School, Vijayapura.

“This year, the difficulty level was increased to the original level of 20 per cent (2019-2020). Due to this, the pass percentage increased by 12.09,” he said.

In all, 8.35 lakh students appeared for the examination from March 31 to April 15. Of them, seven lahks passed.

Chitradurga tops the list of highest-performing districts with a pass percentage of 96.8. Bengaluru north and south are at the bottom of the list of districts with 80.93 per cent and 78.95 per cent (32nd and 33rd), respectively. Kalaburagi ranks 28th with 84.59 per cent. Ballari, Raichur and Shivamogga rank 31st, 30th and 29th, respectively, according to a report from KSEAB.

Bengaluru Bruhat Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) schools recorded a pass percentage of 67.53. There are 33 high schools under BBMP, with 2,270 students appearing for the examination. Of them, 1,533 passed.

Girls outperform boys

Yet again, girls outperformed boys in the examination. Boys recorded a pass percentage of 80.08, while girls registered 87.87. Students from rural areas recorded a total pass percentage of 87, while those from urban areas registered 79.62.

Belagavi student beats all odds

BELAGAVI:  Anupama Shrishail Hireholi, a student of Kumareshwar English Medium School at Saundatti in Belagavi district, shared the first rank with three others in the SSLC examination.

She scored 625/ 625. The results were declared on Monday. Anupama’s father Shrishail Hireholi passed away a year ago. He was working at Shri Renuka Temple at Yallamana Gudda.

Her mother Rajashri, who works at MM Joshi Eye Hospital at Saundatti, is the sole breadwinner of the family. Anupama’s brother is a Class 9 student.

“I used to study for two hours in the morning before going to school and till midnight after coming home. I am happy that my hard work paid off. I am planning to take up science at PU and prepare for the UPSC exam simultaneously. I want to serve my country as an IAS officer,” she told The New Indian Express. 

BENGALURU: Polling for the high-stakes Karnataka Assembly elections is currently underway with, over 5.3 crore eligible voters expected to exercise their rights. 

Voting for the 224-member Assembly began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. Security has beefed up at sensitive and hyper-sensitive areas to ensure fair and peaceful polling.

A voter turnout of 8.26 per cent was recorded in the first two hours of polling, according to Election Commission data.

The highest percentage was in the coastal district of Udupi (13.28 per cent) and the lowest in Chamarajanagar district (5.75 per cent) till 9 am.

Designated photo spots have been set up in various polling stations where voters posed with their inked fingers upon casting their vote.

Karnataka is voting to elect a new government, with the incumbent BJP facing the challenge from the Congress. The Janata Dal (Secular) is the third main player in the contest.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged the people of Karnataka to vote in large numbers and enrich the festival of democracy. Modi tweeted, “Urging the people of Karnataka, particularly young and first-time voters to vote in large numbers and enrich the festival of democracy.”

A large number of people are seen in polling stations across the state. Many people including celebrities are seen as early voters. There have also been technical glitches in Ballari and seizures in Chitradurga.

The weather forecast has predicted rains over many parts of Karnataka on Wednesday, with the Election Commission officials appealing to people to vote early. 

It can be noted in 2018, the state Assembly polls recorded a voter turnout of 72.13 per cent, the highest in Karnataka since 1952. The election commission is hoping to break this previous record.

In the last 45 days, the state witnessed a hectic campaign from all the party leaders. 

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai was among the early voters and even offered Pooja at an Anjaneya temple in Shiggavi. Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and his wife and Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murthy were among those to cast their votes in Bengaluru this morning.

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman, who is also a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, cast her vote in Jayanagar. When asked about low voter turnout in most of the polls in Bengaluru, she said, “From the number I’ve seen, I see Bengaluru is coming to vote. I hope the number will increase further in the day.”

Some of the early voters include ministers Araga Jnanendra in Shivamogga’s Theerthahalli and Byrathi Basavaraju in Bengaluru’s KR Puram among others. This year, the election commission has introduced vote from home for senior citizens who are 80 years and above, however many senior citizens of that age were seen in the polling stations to cast their votes.

Former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa along with his family members and sons BJP MP BY Raghavendra and BY Vijayendra — who is contesting from the Shikaripura constituency in Shivamogga — cast their votes.

Meanwhile, cash and freebies were seized across a few areas on polling day owing to a violation of the model code of conduct. A joint raid was conducted by EC, IT, Police and Excise officials at the residence of Chitradurga Janatha Dal (Secular) Candidate Raghu Acharc included cash of  Rs 58.83 lakh in cash, 239 litres of beer and 9 litres of other liquor.

Incidents of polling being delayed due to technical glitches were also reported.  Over half an hour of the voting process stopped in Sanganakallu village in Ballari district after a technical error was found in EVMs. The voting resumed after officials sorted the issue.

BENGALURU: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to launch his blitzkrieg rallies ahead of the May 10 polls, former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) supremo HD Deve Gowda in an exclusive interaction with The New Indian Express said Modi’s rallies will have more impact on the Lok Sabha polls than on Assembly polls, which are fought on local issues. Excerpts:

There is nothing special in my campaigning. I have told them (the party leaders) to line up three programmes a day. I will campaign in around 40 constituencies… I have been fighting for the last 60 years. Kumaraswamy has continued it more effectively with his programmes. Despite undergoing heart operations twice, he is working hard.

Farm loan waiver, old age pension, and many more measures were taken by him. Even his enemies will admit that he is a politician who keeps his word.

Take a look at the results of the last (2018) Assembly elections. We won three seats each in Vijayapura and Raichur, two in Bidar, and one in Yadgir district. We won nine seats in that region. This time, we will win more in that region. Some friends, not all, want to brand it as just an Old Mysuru party. The facts are different.

What do they have to say about  Yediyurappa’s son backing out from a contest in Varuna  (from where Congress leader Siddaramaiah is contesting)? What is the reaction of the BJP high command? What does that indicate? They have their own internal understandings.

 
It is difficult. BJP won 303 seats, this time it is difficult for them. But it is possible for them to form a government with the help of others. Even that is not possible for Congress. Look at Rajasthan, they are fighting. Also, other parties will not accept Congress’ leadership.

He will address the rallies in around 40 to 50 places. Its effect will be more on the Parliament elections. This (Assembly poll) is a regional issue. His speeches will have more impact during the Parliament elections, but it is difficult during assembly elections, it is all about local issues.

After he took over as the AICC president, Mallikarjun Kharge seems to be making efforts and meeting leaders from different parties …
Each one is saying something different. One is talking about Adani and one is talking about something else. There is no meaning to it.

We are fighting to save the party. This is a farmers’ party and as a son of a farmer, I am making all possible efforts in that direction. JDS has earned the confidence of farmers and poor people. We have always been committed to social justice. People have not forgotten that.

I had implemented it, but the BJP scrapped it. They should not have done it. It is wrong. I have taken a stand that we will restore it.

Honestly, I don’t think that is going to happen. JDS will get a simple majority.

Despite having a strong Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Jan Sangh background, former chief minister Jagadish Shettar quit the BJP after a three-decade-long association with it to join Congress on April 16. His decision to quit BJP came after the latter denied him a ticket to contest from his Hubballi-Dharwad Central constituency.

Now with the Congress, Shettar says his secular image and thoughts would make it easy for him to adapt with the Congress party’s ideology. In an exclusive interview with The New Indian Express, Shettar, who is now contesting on a Congress ticket from the same HD Central constituency, speaks of his ties with the RSS, and that although he may not attend programmes of the Sangh, his relationship with its leaders will continue.

Systematic efforts were there in the party to neglect me for the last several months. I was not even allowed to speak at the state executive meetings held every quarter. I wanted to raise the issue at the core committee meeting, but it is not being held regularly. When (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah was party president he used to ask the core committee to meet every month, but now they are being held once in three-four months. So I was unable to express my grievances. It was not taken seriously whenever I raised burning issues related to the party and the government.

The state leaders were not interested in exploiting my experience, and even the state in-charge Arun Singh never discussed party affairs with me. So I started feeling suffocated. In the meantime, a whisper campaign was started against me by Mahesh Tenginkai, who is now contesting from the Hubballi Dharwad Central segment and who is a close associate of BJP generation secretary (Organisation) BL Santosh. I also brought it to the notice of the party leaders, but they were unresponsive. Later, I became impatient as everybody took me for granted.

I wanted to tell it in the party forum. If I had gone directly to them, perceptions would have been built saying Shettar always come with complaints. Despite that, once I did try to inform Amit Shah about it. I also got an appointment to meet him and informed him that the party position is not good in Karnataka and that there were some problems with the government, too. But I was unable to speak everything as some other leaders were there. I again requested Shah for a personal meeting, and he did agree to it on some later day, but that day never arrived.

It is another kind of a whisper campaign. The Sangh has never been involved in political activities. I came to know that some ticket aspirants went to seek the blessings of some RSS leaders, and the latter had clarified that the question of Shettar not contesting the elections would not arise.

I was shocked when State Election In-charge Dharmendra Pradhan telephoned me to inform me that I would be denied the ticket. Is it the way to treat people who built and served the party for over three decades? I expressed my rejection of the party’s decision on his face, and said, ‘Do whatever you want, I will contest the election.’ Later national president JP Nadda called, and I gave him the same reply, and requested him to reconsider. Later, the party started negotiations and offered that somebody from my family would contest, and promised to make me a Rajya Sabha member. I clearly informed them that I don’t want to bring any of my family members into politics, and that I am also not interested in becoming an MP.

While the negotiations were happening, I informed Union Minister Pralahd Joshi that I would wait till April 14 and then take a decision. I had clearly informed them about a respectable exit and requested to be allowed to remain an MLA for six months. As the party was unable to respond, I took a clear stand on quitting BJP. If the central leadership had invited me a week or ten days earlier and informed me about its decision, I would have made up my mind. This all-of-a-sudden decision pained and disturbed me, and I decided to rebel against the party, whatever the consequences.

As I was thinking of alternatives, the Congress party sent feelers for talks. Initially, I did think of contesting as an independent, but later realised that since the BJP has a government at the Centre and in the state, they could have hammered me, my followers and workers. Moreover, the whole responsibility would be on me alone. So I chose a national party so that they (the BJP) could be confronted with a greater force. Also, I have no funds to launch a party like Janardhan Reddy or Yediyurappa did.

My secular image and thoughts will make it easy for me to get adapted with the Congress party ideology, My thinking is maintaining harmony among communities and doing good for everybody, which is the same as the Grand Old Party. When I was the opposition leader and minister, I worked with leaders of all parties, and none spoke negatively about me then. So I will get adjusted to any system.

My intention is to strive for the public good. I will not be party to what other leaders of the party say or criticise. It is not necessary to criticise the RSS day in day out if I am in the Congress party. If there is any such issue, I will speak then. I don’t want to create controversies by speaking on non-issues.

I may not attend the programmes of the Sangh, but my personal relationship with its leaders will continue. But I cannot say whether the relationship will continue or not. I don’t want to drag the RSS into my politics.

I don’t want to comment on the national leaders and affairs of the national BJP. As far as Modi and Shah are concerned, they have built the party. Why should I say anything about them? As far as Karnataka is concerned, (BJP) leaders here are taking advantage of Modi.

BENGALURU: A day after actor ‘Kiccha’ Sudeep announced that he would campaign for BJP, as suggested by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, in the May 10 Assembly elections in the state, Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) has written to the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka seeking a ban on telecast of movies, advertisements and other programmes featuring the actor.

Pradeep Kumar, spokesperson and general secretary of the state legal cell of JDS, filed a petition with the CEC on Thursday stating that telecast of Sudeep’s movies, advertisements, and TV programmes should be banned till the election process is completed.

Kumar stated that telecast of the actor’s movies or programmes may influence the voters and hence, orders should be issued to ban the same. He also appealed to the CEC to direct the authorities concerned to remove the posters having the actor’s photo from public places.

On Wednesday, Sudeep addressed a press conference with Bommai and announced that he would be campaigning for BJP in the Assembly elections. 

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday released its second list of 41 candidates for the next-month Karnataka assembly elections and also marked a seat for the regional outfit Sarvodaya Karnataka Party.

The elections to the 224-member assembly will be held on May 10 and results will be declared on May 13. With the second list of candidates in 42 constituencies (including in Melukote), the party has so far announced the candidates for 166 out of total 224 seats. The party has to now finalise the list for the remaining 58 seats.

The candidates were finalised at a meeting of the Central Election Committee headed by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and top party leaders from Karnataka, including former chief minister Siddaramaiah, state chief DK Shivakumar and All India Congress Committee in-charge for the state, Randeep Surjewala, were present at the meeting.

The Congress is seeking to wrest power from the BJP in Karnataka, the only southern state where the saffron party is in power.

There is no mention of Kolar, the second seat from where senior party leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, wants to contest, in addition to Varuna, where his name is already cleared.

Baburao Chinchansur and N Y Gopalakrishna, who had quit as BJP MLC and MLA recently and joined Congress have been fielded Gurmitkal and Molakalmuru, respectively. Gopalakrishna was BJP’s MLA from Kudligi in Vijayanagara district in the current Assembly.

While S R Srinivas (Vasu), who had quit as JD(S) MLA has been fielded as a candidate from Gubbi.

Congress has left the Melukote seat in Mandya district for Darshan Puttannaiah of Sarvodaya Karnataka Party. His father late Puttannaiah was a prominent farmer leader and had earlier represented the constituency.

Former Minister Vinay Kulkarni, who was expected in some quarters to take on Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai from Shiggaon in Haveri district, has been given ticket to contest from Dharwad.

Kulkarni has been barred from entering Dharwad district by court in connection with the murder of zilla panchayat member Yogeeshgouda Goudar.

Former Chief Minister Dharam Singh’s son, Vijay Dharam Singh, has got a ticket from Basavakalyan. His brother, a sitting MLA and Opposition’s chief whip Ajay Dharam Singh in the current Assembly, had got the ticket from Jewargi in the first list.

Bheemasen B Chimmannakatti has been given the ticket from Badami, which was represented by Siddaramaiah. He is the son of Balappa Bhimappa Chimmankatti, who had vacated the seat for the former CM in 2018 Assembly polls.

Siddhegowda will contest from Chamundeshwari, the other seat from where Siddaramaiah had lost in the 2018 elections.

Former Ministers Santosh Lad, Anjaneya H, Kimmane Rathnakar and R B Thimmapur are contesting from Kalghatgi, Holalkere, Tirthahalli and Mudhol respectively.

It was widely expected that the Kadur seat would go to senior politician YSV Datta, who had switched to Congress from JD(S) recently, but the ticket has been given to Anand K.S. Datta was considered to be one of the close confidants of former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda.

According to Congress sources, among the second list of 42 candidates, 11 are Lingayats (including one Reddy Lingayat), Vokkaligas 11 (including Darshan Puttannaiah), Kuruba 3, Muslims 3, SC 4, ST 2.

BENGALURU: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar called on All-India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge at the latter’s residence here on Saturday. The meeting of the top leaders assumes significance as the Congress is likely to release its second list of candidates for the May 10 Assembly elections soon. According to informed sources, the duo discussed the possible rebellion that may arise due to factionalism in the party and the strategy to quell it.

“Met AICC President Manya  @Kharge at his residence today. Many issues were discussed in the wake of the  Karnataka assembly elections,” Shivakumar tweeted after the 25-minute meeting. The duo also discussed whether to release the second list before Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Kolar on April 9 to attend the Jai Bharat rally. The Central Election Committee (CEC) of the Congress will sit again under the chairmanship of Kharge on April 5 to finalise the candidates for the remaining 100 seats. Sources said the list is expected to be announced either on April 6 or 7.

The Congress recently released the names of 124 candidates and did not face any backlash. Of the remaining 100 seats, the party has finalised candidates for about 35 seats where there was just one aspirant. “But there is a problem in constituencies where there are multiple candidates,” an informed source told TNSE.

For instance, there is a competition between Santhosh Lad and Nagaraj Chebbi belonging to Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar factions, respectively, in Kalghatgi. Similarly, there is opposition from a section of Congress leaders to field  Shivakumar’s supporter Ashok Rai in Puttur.