Lok Sabha elections Highlights: ‘Powerful people have united against me,' says PM Modi in Karnataka

It was odd that @elonmusk was coming all the way to India to meet an outgoing Prime Minister. He too has now read the writing on the wall and decided to put off his visit. INDIA’s PM will welcome him soon, and the INDIA Government will promote electric vehicles even more aggressively - I myself am a user of one!: Jairam Ramesh, Congress

The Opposition is so disappointed that they have started talking about dividing the country and saving the corrupt. The Opposition has become so weak that they are not able to see how the future of the country can progress. They are creating controversies. By spreading falsehood among the people, they are damaging their credibility. They are drenched in corruption,. More than half of the INDI Alliance is out on bail: Piyush Goyal, Union minister

Congress fields Dulai Chandra Pradhan from Odisha's Sambalpur, Binod Bihari Nayak from Keonjhar, and Debokanta Sharma from West Bengal's Kanthi.

Urbashi Bhattacharya to contest from West Bengal's Kanthi.

I am not just hopeful but confident that Hema Malini will be elected as the MP from here for the third time: RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary on Hema Malini's prospects from Mathura seat

Who cares about Prime Minister's words. He is not the Prime Minister of the people. He is the PM of Sangha Parivar and the BJP. He has not grown as a leader of the country. We will win 20 out of 20 (seats in Kerala). We will form the government in the Centre: Anto Antony, Congress on PM Modi's statement that Rahul Gandhi will “run away from Wayanad.”

The kind of thoughts and ideology being promoted by Congress government in Karnataka is very dangerous. Our daughters are being attacked, bombs are exploding in markets, and people are being attacked for listening to religious songs, these incidents are not common. I urge my brothers and sisters to stay very alert of the Congress: PM Modi

Powerful people of India and the world have united against me but it is with your blessings and the 'suraksha kavach' you have given me, that I have been able to face all challenges: PM Modi in Karnataka's Chikkaballapur

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath holds a roadshow in Rajasthan's Jodhpur for party candidate and Union minister, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

Large-scale immigration was going on in western Uttar Pradesh back in 2014. SP goons were troubling the common people. Good people were leaving the state. When you voted BJP into power in 2017, (chief minister) Yogi Adityanath transformed the law and order situation in the state, and now, instead of the common people, the goons are moving out of the state: Amit Shah in Mathura

On the one hand, you have the son of a poor family, Narendra Modi, and on the other hand, you have Rahul Gandhi who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. On the one hand, you have the Congress which has done scams worth ₹12 lakh crores, and you have the Samajwadi party, and on the other hand, you have Narendra Modi who has been the CM of Gujarat for 23 years, and has not an ounce of allegation of corruption against him. Onthe one hand, you have Rahul Gandhi who leaves the country as soon as the summer season begins and hires a private island in Thailand for vacation, on the other hand, you have Narendra Modi, who does not take leave even on Diwali: Amit Shah, Union home minister

Karnataka is the biggest example of how Congress deceives the farmers. We started the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme for small and marginal farmers. When Karnataka had the BJP government, the farmers of the state received ₹10000 each; ₹6000 from the central government and ₹4000 from Karnataka's BJP government. But as soon as Congress formed government in the state, it stopped giving ₹4000 to the farmers: PM Modi

Those who were given the least importance, the ones standing last in the line, NDA government have moved them to the first place in the line. In 2014, the NDA nominated an SC person as the President, the first citizen of the country. In 2019, the NDA nominated a tribal woman as the President, the first citizen of the country. This is our government, which has developed the five places associated with Babasaheb Ambedkar as 'Panchtirtha: PM Modi

The first phase of voting has increased the excitement in the country, and I can see this excitement here also. In the first phase, voting was done in favour of NDA and "Viksit Bharat": PM Modi

All candidates of the Congress will win. Congress will get the majority. 'South se Saaf, North se Half' is going to happen with the BJP. In Rajasthan, the Congress will win more seats than the BJP in both phases: Sachin Pilot, Congress

I am here in Khandwa for a roadshow and you can see that the people are welcoming with their open heart. Their support for the BJP can be seen. We will win all the six Lok Sabha seats: Mohan Yadav, Madhya Pradesh CM

If you had voted for the Congress in 2019, Kota would have become the house of PFI. You voted for PM Modi and he ended PFI and put them behind bars. They say that they will lift the ban on PFI. Congress is an anti-development party: Amit Shah, Union home minister

There is no Modi wave in Karnataka or in the nation. There is a strong anti-incumbency against the Modi govt. That's why in the whole country, there is a wave of Congress and INDIA alliance: Siddaramaiah

The roads of Purnea are smooth , no matter how far in the interior one traverses unlike the days in the past 90s when the constituency had gained infamy for murders, ganglords and caste fights between upper castes and backward classes, which still form a sizeable vote bank. 

In past two decades, things have changed with Purnea town transforming as a major city in Bihar with plush hotels, showrooms of consumer goods as well as multi speciality hospitals springing up in big number- an indicator of development and teeming millions of the district and adjoining areas vying for better health care and better standard of living.

"Vikash hua hai. Hum yehi chahtaey hain. Shanti hai Lekin jaati ki rajniti hogi is baar.( there has been development and we want it to be like that with peace, Caste will play a big factor in influencing voters," says Kunal Kumar, a trader, in Dhamdhaha, one of the assembly segments of the constituency around 30 km from Purnea town. Kumar echoed how life was difficult in the 90s when roads were in a poor condition , law and order was a concern and businessmen were faced with threats of extortion.

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal says, "...Nirmala Sitharaman in an interview said that we will bring back electoral bonds and it was also said that when electoral bonds were introduced, they were introduced for the sake of transparency. This is exactly the opposite of what the Supreme Court said. The Supreme Court has said that these are not transparent, they were brought in a non-transparent manner. Now the problem they are facing is that they have money for this election but they know that they will need the money when they lose...I want to ask Mohan Bhagwat why is he silent?..."

Few days after CPI-M leader John Brittas delivered a lecture on the premises of Kerala University campus, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan said that this is the time when cognizance has to be taken by the Election Commission. 

On being asked by the reporters that in Kerala University, despite the Vice Chancellor and Registrar saying no, the employees' union conducted a lecture by CPI-M leader John Brittas, and now the Election Commission has asked for an explanation. To this, Arif Mohammad Khan said, "This is the time when cognizance has to be taken by the election commission... There is a blanket ban on canvassing and campaigning inside the university campus. So, if the university authorities had ignored that blanket ban and permitted somebody to hold a meeting, maybe I would have sought an explanation."

On Tajinder Singh Bittu's resignation from the Congress party, Himachal Pradesh Congress chief Pratibha Singh says, "The high command has to decide why he went out of the party, what was resentment? I don't have much knowledge about it. Another co-incharge will be placed..."

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Saturday that the people of the country are eager to make Modi ji the Prime Minister again.

Taking a dig at the Congress party, Shinde said that while PM Modi is working for the betterment of the country, Congress, on the other hand, is busy solving its internal issues. 

PM Modi should again get elected Prime Minister for the third time for the betterment and development of this nation, Shinde said while addressing the Vijay Sankalp Sabha here today.

“Yesterday, we had a detailed discussion with the opinion leaders of the Mandi constituency. Today, we have a meeting scheduled for the Congress leaders and office bearers of the Shimla Parliamentary constituency. We are conducting a series of meetings to chart out different strategies for different parliamentary constituencies. In the last 15 months of our governance, we have implemented several welfare schemes for the people in the state, while the BJP is trying to stop us,” says Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu

BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad says, "There will be a historic win in Bihar with winning all 40 seats. Bihar wants a static government. PM Modi is a leader of the poor, backwards, Sanatanis, Hindus and every section of the society. This is a conflict between ground reality and fake promises, nepotism and those who respect everyone..."

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday said this Lok Sabha election is not about family relations but a battle between Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra, the NCP's candidate from the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency in Pune district, officially launched her campaign by offering prayers at the Hanuman temple at Kanheri on Saturday.

Ajit Pawar, his sons Parth and Jay, and several local party leaders were present for the campaign launch.