Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge wrote Prime Minister Narendra Modi a letter on Thursday, requesting an explanation of the ancient party’s Nyay Patra.

In support of the Congress manifesto, Kharge said that the Nyay Patra aims to give justice to marginalised people from all castes and communities, including women, children, farmers, and labourers.

The Congrss president said, PM’s  advisors are misrepresenting things to him that aren’t even included in our manifesto. Kharge said, he would be more than happy to meet with him in person to explain thehir Nyay Patra’ so that, as prime minister of the country, he dosen’t make any statements that are false.

It has become his  habit to seize on a few words taken out of context, create communal divide, Kharge added.

The Congress leader said that he is neither shocked nor surprised by the language used by the prime minister, in reference to Modi’s recent addresses.

It was expected that the PM and other leaders from his party would start speaking in this manner after he saw the dismal performance of the BJP in the first phase of the elections, he continued.

The impoverished and their rights have been a topic of discussion in Congress (nyay). We know that you and your administration do not care about the underprivileged and destitute, he remarked.

Continuing his attack on the prime minister, Kharge said, PM’s ‘suit-boot ki sarkar’ works for the corporates whose taxes you reduced while the salaried class pays higher taxes. The poor pay GST even on food and salt and the rich corporate claim GST refunds. That is why, when we talk of inequality between the rich and the poor, you are purposely equating it with Hindu and Muslim.

Following the criticisms made by the prime ministers in their recent election speeches, Kharge has responded. Modi has not held back when criticizing the main opposition party at his rallies, accusing them of scheming to redistributing assets and referring to the Congress manifesto as a “imprint of the Muslim League.

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, submitted his nomination for the Kannauj Lok Sabha constituency ahead of tomorrow’s second round of voting. In front of Ram Gopal Yadav and other party leaders, the chief of the SP, who had previously contested the seat in 2000, 2004 and 2009, submitted the nomination.

Speaking with media, Ram Gopal Yadav said that SP would win the seat by a huge margin. The BJP candidate might lose his deposit in the seat, he said.

The Samajwadi Party has completely reversed its earlier plan to field former Mainpuri MP Tej Pratap Singh Yadav as their candidate, which is a significant political development.

Earlier, Akhilesh Yadav told reporters, people will find out when the nomination takes place, in reference to the speculations that he will contest for the seat. The historic victory of Kannauj is the subject of inquiry.

The former chief minister continued, the people have decided that the India bloc is coming as the future and the BJP will be history in this election.

Notably, elections for the Kannauj seat are scheduled for May 13, which would intensify the political drama that is now playing out in Uttar Pradesh. Previously regarded as the Samajwadi Party’s stronghold, the seat was lost by the party in the 2019 election when Subrat Pathak of the BJP won with a resounding victory.

The candidates competing for the following Uttar Pradesh seats will find out their destiny in the second round of voting, which is scheduled for tomorrow, Amroha, Meerut, Mathura, Baghpat, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, and Bulandshahar.

Notably, two Bollywood celebrities running as BJP candidates in the second round are Hema Malini from Mathura and Arun Govil from Meerut. There are 91 contestants from UP competing in the second phase.

The seats in Gautam Buddha Nagar and Mathura are up for grabs, with a maximum of 15 applicants per seat. In Bulandshahr, six candidates are vying for the presidency. There are twelve contenders running in Amroha, eight in Meerut, seven in Baghpat, and fourteen in Ghaziabad and Aligarh.

1,67,77,198 votes will decide these candidates’ fates.

In accordance to the rising temperatures in Bihar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has extended the voting hours for the upcoming three phases of the parliamentary polls at 1,700 polling places spread across four parliamentary seats, Banka, Madhepura, Khagaria, and Munger. The extension of the voting hours was announced by poll officials on Wednesday.

Polling generally takes place from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in most parts of the country, however, in certain isolated locations and in constituencies impacted by left-wing extremism, polls close two hours early to allow polling parties to move around easily.

The ECI gazette notification said the dates for the parliamentary constituencies of Banka (Katoria and Belhar assembly segments), which will hold elections on April 26, Madhepura (Mahishi assembly segment), Khagaria (Simri Bakhtiyarpur, Alauli, and Beldaur assembly segments), where voting will take place on May 7, and Munger (Suryagarha assembly segment), which will hold final phase elections on May 13, have been extended.

The voting period has been extended by two hours for a total of 299 polling stations in Simri Bakhtiarpur, 191 polling stations in Belhar AC of Banka, 172 polling stations in Katoria Assembly Constituency (AC) and 191 polling stations in Belhar AC of Banka, 207 booths in Mahishi AC of Madhepura seat, and 230 polling stations in Suryagarha AC of Munger.

In an effort to boost voter turnout, which fell to 49.26% in the first phase of polling on April 19 in Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada, and Jamui from 53.47% in 2019 by 4.21%, the timing has also been extended.

Meanwhile, during the course of the next several days, temperatures in the southern states, namely Kerala and Karnataka, are predicted to rise by 2-3°C. In Southern Karnataka, where up to 14 constituencies are scheduled to vote in Phase 2, a heatwave warning has been issued. It is predicted to affect the districts of Tumkur, Davangere, Vijayapura, Yadgir, Koppal, Bagalkote, Kalaburgi, Raichur, Ballari, Chitradurga, Kolar, Chikkaballapura, Gadag, and Davangere.

The EC stated that a likely factor influencing voter turnout is the increase in temperature.