Exit polls predict tight race in K’taka
“The exit polls have once again confirmed that these elections are not an easy battle to judge. Actually, these have revealed nothing. Our expectations from the elections are as uncertain as before,” he said.
Both the Congress and BJP went the extra mile in the often acrimonious election campaign, showing how crucial Karnataka is for both. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah led the BJP campaign; the party has projected BS Yeddyuruppa as its chief ministerial face. The Congress campaign was led by party president Rahul Gandhi and CM Siddaramaiah. The JD(S) was spearheaded by the father-son duo of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda and former CM HD Kumaraswamy.
Chief minister Siddaramaiah declared that his party would win an outright majority. “I am confident that the Congress will get more than 120 seats. I will be the next chief minister for the state. There is no chance of a coalition government,” he said after exit poll numbers came in. The BJP’S Yeddyurappa wrote in a Twitter message that the party ..”is headed towards a landslide victory.”
JD (S) may end up as the kingmaker in post-poll government formation if either of the two national parties falls short of a majority. JD(S) spokespersons were not available for comment. was arrested the same day.
Indore deputy inspector general (DIG) Harinarayan Chari Mishra formed a special investigation team (SIT), headed by inspector Shivpal Singh Khushwaha, to probe the case; collector Nishant Warwade appointed district public prosecutor Mohammad Akram Sheikh to fight the case for the prosecution.
The head of SIT, Kushwaha, completed the investigation within seven days. “We went through the footage of all the closed circuit television cameras in the area and saw the accused taking the child in his cycle and entering the building at 4.45 am and then coming back alone at around 5 am. We picked him up for questioning and he confessed to his crime. But the clinching evidence was the matching of the victim’s DNA samples with the blood found in his shirt, cycle and parts of his body. His DNA was found in the minor’s body.”
The inspector said the motive of the crime was revenge. The accused had a fight with the victim’s mother the night before as she had refused to mediate in his ongoing fight with his wife. The victim’s mother broke a bottle of liquor he had during the altercation.
Public prosecutor Sheikh said the court heard the case every day, with each hearing lasting four to five hours to ensure speedy delivery of justice. The 120-page charge sheet was presented on April 27. He said that the prosecution and police worked in close coordination and got the statement of all 29 prosecution witnesses recorded by May 8. On May 9, the accused was given chance of defend himself, and the judgment came on Saturday. 391 during the NICO period, climbed further to 415 in the remaining part of 2001, and escalated to 852 in 2002 with the terrorist strike in Kaluchak and other places.
A second army officer said that a unilateral ceasefire at a time when the militants are being neutralized will be counter-productive as Pakistanbased terror groups are in full operational mode to create mayhem in Kashmir. ing a jail sentence in ongoing anti-corruption cases.
“Why would I do it now after 66 appearances (in an anti-corruption court)? We don’t even get an exemption (from court hearings),” he said, referring to how he was unable to visit his ailing wife Kulsum Nawaz, who is being treated for cancer in London.
“It’s not easy to stay away…look, we have no other choice,” he added. “These games have gone on too long. Something has to change.”
Sharif also deflected questions on who would lead the PML-N in the general elections and whether his brother, Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif, would be the prime ministerial candidate. He said: “There is a lot of appreciation for Shehbaz Sharif.”
SHARIF REJECTED SPECULATION THAT HE WOULD CONSIDER A DEAL IF IT WAS OFFERED TO HIM, INCLUDING ANOTHER STINT IN EXILE FOR AVOIDING A JAIL SENTENCE