Case against BJP candidate Tejasvi Surya for 'seeking votes on religious grounds'

In a statement on the microblogging website X, the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer posted "soliciting votes on the ground of religion".

The case has been filed with Jayanagar police station in Bengaluru.

After voting, Surya told reporters the Congress party may not win more than 30 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.

"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 (Narendra Modi), history has shown that the Prime Minister has only got stronger and the BJP has only got more popular," Surya told news agency ANI.

The Congress has fielded Sowmya Reddy in the Bengaluru South constituency.

Surya said 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," he told ANI.

Karnataka voted on 14 seats in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections Friday.

This phase had 88 Lok Sabha constituencies across 13 states and Union Territories.

According to the Election Commission, over 15.88 crore people cast their votes in the second phase.