LEAD

The Karnataka cliffhanger just got a fresh twist with state party chief DK Shivakumar, one of the two contenders for the Chief Minister's post, suddenly cancelling his trip to Delhi. The 61-year-old, who was expected to reach on Monday evening after summons from the party's Central leadership, cited ill health.

"Sonia Gandhi told me, 'I have confidence in you that you will deliver Karnataka'. I am sitting here, doing my regular responsibility. You should have the basic courtesy, a bit of gratitude. They should have the courtesy to acknowledge who is behind the win," he told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

Manipur CM N Biren Singh and four of his cabinet colleagues air-dashed Sunday to New Delhi as the toll in the state’s ethnic clashes rose to 73 and fresh violence broke out late Saturday, with suspected Kuki militants firing at a Meitei village and setting ablaze at least 15 houses.

The CM’s team is likely to call on PM Narendra Modi before holding a series of meetings with home minister Amit Shah and other Union ministers to find a way to defuse the crisis engulfing the state since clashes between tribal groups and the majority Meitei community erupted on May 3.

The Central Board Of Secondary Education, CBSE has declared the CBSE 12th board result 2023 on its official website. The Class 12 result has been declared at 10:45 am. Students can check their CBSE 12th result on the official website of CBSE-cbse.gov.in.

The overall pass percentage for this year stands at 87.33 percent which is lower than the last year. Last year, the pass percentage stood at 92.71 percent.

The ruling BJP has dismissed the exit poll projections after most of them predicted a hung Assembly in Karnataka while putting the Congress ahead in the southern state. Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai said the "exit polls are exit polls", asserting that the BJP will return to power with an absolute majority. According to most exit poll projections, the Congress will finish ahead of the BJP but chances of a hung Assembly are high. The pollsters also tipped HD Deve Gowda's Janata Dal-Secular to play kingmaker. The party needs to win 113 seats to reach the majority mark in the 224-seat Karnataka Assembly.

In an exclusive conversation with news agency ANI, CM Bommai said, "Exit polls are, after all, exit polls and even most projections are predicting a close finish. However, from what I have been able to pick up from our ground sources, it is 100 per cent clear that we are going to return with an absolute majority. The real outcome will only be known on May 13. So, let's wait for the result day."

The Islamabad High Court on Tuesday night upheld the arrest of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan, saying that all legal formalities were fulfilled by the National Accountability Bureau, dashing the hopes of his party. The former Prime Minister will be produced before the court on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, massive violent protests erupted in Pakistan after as Imran Khan’s supporters stormed the Pakistan Army headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi and the Corps Commander’s residence in Lahore after his dramatic arrest in a corruption case.