"Congress may not win more than 30 seats" says BJP candidate from Bengaluru South Tejasvi Surya

While speaking to ANI after casting his vote, he stated that surveys consistently show that the Congress party may not win more than 30 seats.

"Congress party has become absolutely frustrated. Survey after survey shows that it may not win more than 30 seats... The more personal attacks and baseless allegations they make against the PM, history has shown that the Prime Minister has only gotten stronger and the BJP has only gotten more popular," he said.

Congress has fielded Sowmya Reddy opposite Tejasvi Surya in the Bengaluru South constituency.

Surya said that more senior citizens are voting this year and urged young people to come out and vote in large numbers.

"Today is a celebration day in Karnataka. it is a festival of democracy. Millions of people will go out and vote... This is not just a right, but also a duty, because if we don't vote, we are not registering our voice, and contributing meaningfully to a democracy... Just like every year, more senior citizens are seen at the booths, they are coming out in big numbers to vote. I wish young people draw inspiration from senior citizens and also come out in big numbers and vote," he told ANI.

Surya claimed that Kharge's desire to meet the PM to explain Congress' manifesto implies that they acknowledge the PM's capacity to implement good ideas from their manifesto.

"The fact that Mallikarjun Kharge wants to meet the Prime Minister to explain his party manifesto indicates that perhaps even the Congress realises that it will be the PM who will implement some good ideas that may be present in the Congress manifesto... Perhaps this is the admission of Congress that they are not coming anywhere near power for the next two decades," he said.

Notably, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting a meeting to discuss the Congress party's election manifesto. Karnataka is voting on 14 seats today in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections.

The second phase has 88 Lok Sabha constituencies across 13 States/Union Territory including 13 in Rajasthan, 20 in Kerala, eight in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, five each in Assam and Bihar, six in Madhya Pradesh, three each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and one each in Tripura, Manipur, and Jammu & Kashmir.

According to the ECI, over 15.88 crore voters will be voting in the second phase which includes 8.08 crore male electors, 7.8 crore female electors, and 5929 third-gender electors. (ANI)