A. Vishnu Sai Theja scored a 99.99 percentile in the JEE Main 2026 session-1, Paper-1 (BE/BTech), becoming the State topper from Karnataka. He ranked 14th among 43 toppers nationwide. Theja scored 100 percentile in Physics, 99.99 in Chemistry, and 99.97 in Mathematics. "I always aspired to study in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) or Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru and my interest is in pursuing computer science and artificial intelligence. Now I am preparing for JEE session-2," Theja said. He studied around four hours daily after college, with strong mentoring and many mock tests from his teachers at Narayana CO-Kaveri Bhavan, Bengaluru. No candidate from Karnataka achieved a 100 percentile this year. Overall, 12 candidates scored 100 percentile nationally. Rajasthan led with three top scorers, Andhra Pradesh had two, while Delhi, Bihar, Odisha, Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Telangana each had one top scorer. The National Testing Agency (NTA) released the JEE Main 2026 session-1 results on Monday. The exam was held from January 21 to 28 across 658 centres in 326 cities, including 15 international cities. About 13,55,293 candidates registered, and 13,04,653 appeared. It was conducted in 13 languages, including Kannada.