NEW DELHI/BENGALURU: Dhruv Advani from Karnataka secured the 5th rank in the NEET-UG exams whose results were announced on Tuesday. Advani scored with 99.30% with 715/720.

Tamil Nadu’s Prabanjan J and Andhra Pradesh’s Bora Varun Chakravarthi topped the NEET-UG exams with 99.99 percentile scores. Both scored 720 on 720 marks.

The third position was also bagged by a Tamil Nadu boy, Kaustav Bauri. He scored 716 marks with a 99.999068 percentile score. The sixth and ninth positions, too, went to Tamil Nadu boys — Surya Siddharth N and Varun S, who were among the top 10 on the merit list.

Among the girls, Pranjal Aggarwal from Punjab topped the list with 715 marks. She stood fourth in the all-India rank list. Ashika Aggarwal, also from Punjab, followed with 715. Her AIR is 11. The third position among girl toppers was bagged by Arya R S from Kerala with 711 marks. Delhi girl Mimansha Moun bagged the fourth position among the top 20 girls.

BENGALURU:  A smiling Siddaramaiah who is at AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal’s residence in Delhi will head to the AICC office and meet with the Congress leaders and will head back to Bangalore a little past lunch. He is expected to arrive in Bangalore to a specially prepared welcome at the HAL Airport with banners and cutouts which have been meticulously prepared since last night.

The Congress CLP meeting is scheduled to be held at 7 pm where his leadership which has been confirmed by the central leadership will now receive the necessary stamp of approval from the legislators. Sources said Siddaramaiah’s leadership will be proposed by DK Shivakumar and the others will endorse it as a mark of unity.            

In the power-sharing, Siddaramaiah will become CM for the first two and half years and DK Shivakumar will hold the office for the next two and half years. As far as the ministries are concerned DK Shivakumar will get a lion’s share of ministries, he will receive 20 ministries while Siddaramaiah and his team will receive only 13 out of a 34-member cabinet.  

It may be recalled that the All India Congress Committee on May 18, ending hours of deadlock selected Siddaramaiah as the 34th Chief Minister of Karnataka.

Officials at the PCC office were busy dialing the numbers of the Congress MLAs inviting them for the CLP that has been called at 7 pm this evening.

Meanwhile, preparations are also being carried out for the swearing-in of the CM and DCM that will happen on Saturday afternoon at the Kanteerava Stadium and invitations are going out .

Speaking about the breakthrough sources said the leaders were locked in a series of meetings with the central leadership to break the deadlock. Sources said each one of the issues raised regarding the executive leadership were ironed out threadbare to ensure there is no bitterness or residual ill feeling. The entire Congress central leadership stepped in to work a way out of the problem–Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, AICC president, Mallikarjun Kharge, General Secretary K C Venugopal, state incharge general secretary Randeep Surjewala.    

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday hit out at the BJP for criticising it over the delay in deciding the Chief Minister of Karnataka, and cited examples when the BJP declared its chief ministers in Uttar Pradesh and Assam several days after winning the polls.

“Just to refresh memories of PM’s drum-beaters especially. 2017 UP Vidhan Sabha election results out on March 11th. Yogi appointed CM 8 days later on March 19th. 2021 Assam Vidhan Sabha election results out on May 3rd. Himanta Biswa Sarma became CM 7 days later on May 10th,” AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter.

“There are many more such examples,” he also said. Several BJP leaders are criticising the Congress for the delay in deciding on the chief ministerial candidate in Karnataka amid hectic lobbying for the top post.

The results in Karnataka were declared on May 13 but the party has not finalised its chief ministerial face yet and the process of consultations is on.

Karnataka’s two chief ministerial aspirants Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar held separate meetings with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday as the party held hectic consultations to decide on who would lead the government in the southern state.

BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya said a sorry state of affairs prevails in Congress where president Mallikarjun Kharge sees himself more as a “postman”.

“Want to watch circus? Watch the Congress select their CM in Karnataka,” he said on Twitter.

Referring to the lobbying by Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for the post of chief minister, he said, “The BJP also holds discussions and deliberations to elect its CMs and has often ensured smooth transition of power, even between CMs.

Despite elaborate consultations, you will never find BJP aspirants falling over each other, rallying supporters and issuing veiled threats to the Party through the media”.

“On the contrary, last evening, Lutyens journalists, who DK Shivkumar hosted at the Claridges, almost appointed Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka CM. Sorry state of affairs in the Congress, where President Kharge sees himself more as a postman, let alone being a decision maker or even part of the decision-making team He keeps referring to some High Command,” he added.

HAVERI: As Congress surged ahead on Saturday according to leads, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai conceded defeat and said that the BJP will come back victorious in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Congress surged ahead as it lead in 124 seats at noon while the BJP was ahead in 69 seats and JD(S) at 24 seats.

Bommai said that once the results will be out a detailed analysis will be done to analyse the gaps that were left at various levels.

“We’ve not been able to make the mark. Once the results come we will do a detailed analysis. As a national party, we will not only analyse but also see what deficiencies and gaps were left at various levels. We take this result in our stride,” said Basavaraj Bommai.

He further added that all the efforts put in by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP workers weren’t able to make the mark.

“In spite of a lot of efforts put in by PM and BJP workers, we’ve not been able to make the mark. Once the full results come we’ll do a detailed analysis. We take this result in our stride to come back in Lok Sabha elections,” said Bommai.

Bommai had earlier said that he was confident of a BJP victory

Meanwhile, Bommai is leading with 53.05 per cent votes from the Shiggaon constituency.

The counting of votes began at 8 am amid tight security across the state.

The exit polls predicted a hung assembly with some showing Congress returning to power with a majority. A few exit polls also showed BJP ahead. If there is a hung assembly, Janata Dal (Secular) can play the role of a kingmaker.

The fiercely contested election that saw high-pitch campaigns from the political parties is crucial for both BJP and Congress. 

NEW DELHI: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday urged the people of Karnataka to vote in large numbers to build a progressive and a “40-per cent-commission-free” state.

Voting for the high-stakes Assembly elections in Karnataka began early on Wednesday in a state where the ruling BJP is eyeing to script history by retaining its southern citadel while a combative Congress is seeking a comeback ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

In a tweet in Hindi, Gandhi said, “Karnataka’s vote for 5 guarantees, for women’s rights, for youth employment, for the upliftment of the poor. Come, vote in large numbers.”

“Let’s build a 40 per cent commission-free, progressive Karnataka together,” Gandhi tweeted in Hindi using the hashtag ‘Congress Winning150’.

He also shared a graphic featuring the Congress’ five guarantees.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who also campaigned extensively in Karnataka, urged the people of the state to vote for change.

“As the polling for the assembly elections begins, I urge all my sisters and brothers in Karnataka to go out there and vote for change,” she said on Twitter.

“It’s time to bring in a strong, development-oriented and capable government that works tirelessly to make your lives better,” she tweeted and used the hashtag “Congress Winning 150” along with the tweet Polling is being held for 224 seats in what is being seen mainly as a three-cornered contest between the ruling BJP, the Congress and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular).

The voting that began at 7 am amid tight security will go on till 6 in the evening.

MYSURU: “I want to tell state Congress leaders that it does not matter to me who will become the chief minister. I want Congress to win in Karnataka. MLAs and high command will decide the chief minister. You worry about people,” asserted AICC president Mallikajun Kharge in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Knowing that the victory for Congress in Karnataka means a lot for Congress and to him as it is his home state, the 80-year-old Kharge sent out a clear message to Ahinda leader Siddaramaiah, KPCC chief 
DK Shivakumar and others, who are making repeated statements on the chief minister’s post, to win the polls first.

The polls here are key ahead of the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan, leading up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Kharge, who took over as the president of the Grand Old Party at its most trying times when the party had lost its opposition status in the Lok Sabha, wants to win Karnataka that will give him further legitimacy.

The return of Congress to corridors of power will give further impetus to the grouping of opposition parties, including TMC, AAP and TRS, to set a national narrative, allowing Kharge to emerge as a national opposition leader.

Congress lost the bargaining power after winning just 17 out of 70 seats in Bihar and was offered 25 seats by DMK in Tamil Nadu. But an emphatic victory in Karnataka will increase Congress’ bargaining power, other than giving a further stamp of approval to Rahul Gandhi’s Bharath Jodo Yatra that passed through 530 km in the state.

It will also provide Rahul a further zeal to take on Narendra Modi in the winning spheres of BJP. But a defeat will give scope for too many knives to come out, questioning the party’s leadership that would be difficult to contain even with the intervention of Gandhis. Kharge should now pull up his socks and push leaders and cadres to make use of the anti-incumbency factor, PayCM campaign, and allegations of corruption against the government to defeat BJP and not to worry about the chief minister’s post.

Political commentator Prof Muzaffar Asadi said this victory is badly needed for Kharge and it will also boost the prospects of Congress at the national level. He said Kharge has drawn the eyeballs of Dalits and the depressed towards Congress, adding to its vote kitty.

BENGALURU:  Right-wing activist Punith Kerehalli, accused of lynching Idrees Pasha (39), driver of a cattle transport vehicle, in Sathanur police station limits near Bengaluru early Saturday morning, was arrested on Wednesday along with his four associates at Banswara in Rajasthan.

The police tracked him on Tuesday when Kerehalli posted a video on social media, accusing two former chief ministers of being in collusion with “cow” killers. 

Video led to arrest of  accused in a few hours

This video is said to have resulted in the police identifying his location, which subsequently led to the five being arrested within a few hours of posting the video. The Ramanagara police were helped by the Rajasthan and Gujarat police. The accused, who will be produced before a court in Rajasthan, will be brought to Karnataka after obtaining a transit warrant.

The other accused have been identified as Gopi, a resident of Gadagaihanadoddi of Ramanagara taluk, Pawan Kumar of Nonaburu in Thirthahalli, Pilling Ambigar, a resident of Basavanagudi, and Suresh Kumar of Raichur.

Of them, Pawan Kumar is said to be an electronic media reporter. “The accused, after the incident (on Saturday morning), had taken the Belagavi route to escape first to Gujarat, and from there to Rajasthan,” BR Ravikanthe Gowda, IGP, Central Range, told TNIE. Four teams of Ramanagara police were formed to nab them. They were arrested while trying to escape in a car, which was intercepted at Banswara.

Mandya’s Pasha, along with Irfan (37) and Syed Zaheer (40), was transporting around 15 cattle (buffaloes and cows) in a vehicle, which was allegedly waylaid by Kerehalli and his associates, who were in a car near Santemala Circle around 12.30 am on Saturday. Pasha and Irfan escaped, while Zaheer was caught and allegedly assaulted. Kerehalli is said to have demanded Rs 2 lakh and threatened to kill him if he didn’t pay. The police reached the spot and took Kerehalli, his four associates, and Zaheer to the police station. However, some hours later, Pasha’s body, with marks of torture, was found a few hundred metres from Sathanur police station. 

BENGALURU:  MV Prashanth Kumar, like his father — Channagiri BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa, is not cooperating with the investigation. The investigating agency is now planning to make Prashanth, who is in judicial custody, sit with his father face-to-face to elicit information.

The corruption case shocked the entire society and the court should send out a strong message by rejecting Prashanth’s bail petition, argued the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) of Karnataka Lokayukta before Special Court Judge B Jayantha Kumar on Saturday.

He said Prashanth tried to swallow a sheet, which purportedly contained the names of people and the money they paid, but it was recovered when he was trapped. Prashanth’s conversation with the other accused, recorded in his smartwatch, has been sent to the forensic lab.

Since the investigation is at its initial stages, bail should be denied to Prashanth till the chargesheet is filed in a month, the SPP argued. Prashanth, who is a BWSSB chief accountant, was arrested on March 2 after he was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 40 lakh for allegedly favouring an agency to get a tender from the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL), where Virupakshappa was chairman.

Handing over the KSDL managing director’s statement to the court, the SPP said there are materials to show that the father and son interfered in awarding KSDL tenders, the SPP argued. Prashanth’s counsel argued that no work is pending before KSDL to give the bribe angle to the case and the Lokayukta police have flouted Section 41 of CrPC by not providing the checklist required to arrest the accused and he is entitled to bail. The court said it will pronounce the order on April 10. Meanwhile, the court handed over Madal Virupakshappa to judicial custody till April 11.

HUBBALLI: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said former AICC president Rahul Gandhi’s visit to poll-bound Karnataka will not have any impact. Speaking to reporters here, the CM termed Congress’ guarantees as bogus announcements.

“His  (Rahul) Bharat Jodo Yatra did not have any impact. His recent visit to Belagavi will not influence state politics,” Bommai said. The CM said the people of Karnataka will not give any value to Rahul’s words, especially after his recent remarks in the UK regarding the state of democracy in India.

Bommai said the Congress has a track record of not implementing the promises it makes. “It is their track record. For instance, in Chhattisgarh, the party promises Rs 1,000 to each household… they did not give it in the first four years…now in the last year of the tenure, they are giving it. So these are not guarantee cards, but visiting cards,” he added.  

Further lashing out at CLP leader Siddaramaiah over allegations of corruption against his government, Bommai said complaints were lodged with the Lokayukta against the Congress leader over several cases, including the redo of Arkavathy Layout. “Siddaramaiah raising the issue of corruption is like the pot calling the kettle black,” he added.

He said discussions are underway with legal experts to conduct a judicial inquiry into 59 “corruption cases” of Siddaramaiah’s government, and a decision will be made soon.

On the ongoing controversy over Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda, the CM said, “Several historical facts of India and Karnataka are twisted. Once the actual facts are established after research, the truth will prevail. Moreover, everyone knows who was involved in the killing of Tipu… but some people can’t digest the truth.” 

 Chief Minister Bommai said that he will remain as the CM after the polls. This comes amid speculation that the BJP top brass may pick a new CM if it returns to power.  

JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy called Congress’ ‘guarantee card’  as a ‘duplicate card’. He took a jibe at CLP leader Siddaramaiah’s hunt for a safe seat. “My sympathies are with Siddaramaiah… it shows his lack of confidence,” he said. Kumaraswamy said he has no plans of fighting from two seats.   “Speculation is rife that ex-MP Ramya will face me in Channapatna. I am not bothered about my opponents,” he said. 

Chethan Ahimsa

Bengaluru: Kannada actor Chethan Ahimsa was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days by the 32nd ACMM Court on Tuesday, for objectionable posts on the Sangh Parivar on social media.

Seshadripuram Police officers arrested the actor on Monday night, after filing FIR under IPC Sections 295A and 505B based on a complaint regarding his posts on the Sangh Parivar.

The actor was arrested and presented before the court on Tuesday morning.