The correct answer is option 2) i.e. The minister said, "Elections will be held in MP, Bihar and Orissa". Explanation:
Let us explore the options:
The first option is incorrec t as 'Elections' is not capitalized and there should be a comma after 'said' to indicate a short pause.
The second option is correct as the comma, quotation mark, and full-stop is correctly used and 'Elections' is also capitalized in the sentence.
The sentence always begins with a capital letter.
To indicate a small pause after a word or a sentence, we use a comma. (,)
Full stop (.) is used at the end of a sentence to end the statement.
While stating a narration we use inverted commas (" ")
The third option is incorrect because of the absence of a quotation mark as it set off and represent exact language (either spoken or written) that has come from somebody else. The quotation mark is also used to designate speech acts in fiction and sometimes poetry.
The fourth option is incorrect as the word 'minister' is unnecessarily capitalized and there should be a comma after 'said' to indicate a short pause.
Hence, the second option is the sentence with the correct punctuation marks.