Headlines from today’s paper.

Prime Minister’s daughter Upinder Singh criticises Sanjaya Baru’s book
Upinder Singh, daughter of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, lashed out at former media adviser Sanjaya Baru’s observations in his new book, The Accidental Prime Minister. The book caused a political storm last week with its claims that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had undermined the prime minister during the United Progressive Alliance-1 government. Upinder Singh called the observations “nothing but a stab in the back…a huge betrayal of trust’’ and a “mischievous, unethical’’ exercise. She also questioned the timing of the release of the book, midway through the elections, and said that Baru had told her that it would be released only after the polling. Upinder also went on to say that Baru admitted he nursed a deep sense of resentment to not being re-inducted into the Prime Minister’s Office in UPA-2.

Priyanka Vadra trashes media report about desire to run from Varanasi
Priyanka Vadra, daughter of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, dismissed a report stating that she had been keen to contest the elections from Varanasi. This would have pitted her against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal. However, Vadra released a statement on Monday saying that her decision not to contest was personal and that no one from her family would stop her from contesting an election if she so wished to. Priyanka reiterated that her only aim was to campaign for her brother Rahul Gandhi in Amethi and mother Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli.

Sonia Gandhi urges voters to reject ‘divisive forces’
Congress president Sonia Gandhi made a rare appearance on television for three minutes on Monday evening, in which she launched a cryptic attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party. Speaking in Hindi, Gandhi urged voters to reject “divisive and autocratic” forces that would ruin the country’s “Bharatiyata” and “Hindustaniyat”. She added that the Congress was fighting these elections to “protect the very heart and soul” of India from those who sought to change it and divide the people of the country. Gandhi’s address was aired on all Hindi channels at 8.57pm on Monday. Meanwhile, the BJP spokesperson Prakash Javdekar described Gandhi’s speech as desperate.

China-India hold talks to lay groundwork for high-level engagements
Indian foreign secretary Sujatha Singh met China’s vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin in Beijing on Monday in strategic talks aimed at laying the groundwork for a series of high-level engagements in the coming months. Singh said the aim of her visit was “to reiterate to the government of China that the government of India attaches the highest priority to India’s relations with China”. Zhenmin said that the Chinese government was “confident” that the new government that would take charge in New Delhi following the Indian general elections would ensure friendly ties with Beijing, regardless of which political party comes into power.

Rahul Gandhi-Narendra Modi mudslinging continues
While campaigning in Latur, Maharashtra, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi Monday referred to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s development model for the state as a “toffee model” that benefits only a few industrialists, while the interests of farmers and the poor are ignored. Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate, responded to the statement by calling Gandhi an immature child who can only think of and talk of toffees.