Karnataka Election 2023: Modi says people are fighting assembly polls on behalf of BJP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the overwhelming response he received in Bengaluru during the roadshow made him believe that it is the people who are contesting the 2023 assembly elections in Karnataka on behalf of the BJP. He also said the "never-seen-before love and affection he saw in Bengaluru was unparalleled".

"This morning, I went to have a 'Darshan' (opportunity to see) of 'Janata Janardhan' (public God) in Bengaluru. People gave me 'never-seen-before' love and affection," Modi said at a public meeting in Badami in the Bagalkote district of poll-bound Karnataka, which votes on May 10.

"People stood in every nook and corner of the road all along the 25 kilometres from where his convoy passed during the Bengaluru roadshow," the PM said.

People with their families, and differently abled persons, and women with their newborn children stood on either side of the road.

"What I saw in Bengaluru, I say with confidence that this election is neither Modi contesting, nor BJP leaders or our candidates, it is the election the people of Karnataka are fighting on behalf of the BJP. I see the total control of the election in the hands of people," Modi said.

He also said the BJP's "double engine" government has been working on bringing in development without discrimination.

Hitting out at the Congress, Modi said the Congress party has a "track record of 85 per cent commission, they can never work to serve the people".