The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence over growing communal incidents encourages violent and intolerant elements in the country.

The AAP said writers returning Sahitya Akademi awards was ‘no joke’, adding that they were standing up for a just cause.

“Writers returning their Sahitya Akademi awards are no joke, these writers are giving up recognition to stand up for what is right,” the AAP tweeted.

“Modi ji silence is encouraging violent and intolerant forces due to which India image is getting spoiled,” the AAP said in another tweet.

The AAP also accused Prime Minister Modi for making fun of the word ‘secularism’ during his trips abroad.

“Modi ji is not only quiet on these issues but is also making fun of the word ‘secularism’ on foreign soil,” the AAP tweeted.

The Sahitya Akademi will hold an emergency meeting on October 23 to discuss the alarming exodus of literary icons from the fraternity with writers returning their awards.

Till now, 15 writers have returned their awards to the Akademi since Hindi writer Uday Prakash first did so last month over the killing of Kannada scholar M.M. Kalburgi.

The Supreme Court on Monday termed as “mistake” its earlier order extending interim protection from arrest granted toTeesta Setalvad and her husband, indicating that the relief was granted by a two-judge bench earlier instead of three.

“Earlier, it was a mistake,” a bench comprising justices A R Dave and Adarsh Kumar Goel observed when senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the activist, said the protection against arrest was expiring on October 15 and moreover, last time this two-judge bench had itself extended the relief.

“It is a three-judge bench matter… place it before the appropriate bench,” the court said and asked Sibal to mention it before the Chief Justice for making available the special bench to extend the relief.

“I do not want to lose the protection,” Sibal said. The relief was granted to the activist couple in a case of alleged embezzlement of funds for a museum at Ahmedabad’s Gulbarg Society that was devastated in the 2002 riots.

Meanwhile, the counsel for Gujarat police sought adjournment on the hearing of its plea seeking a direction to Teesta for supplying certain documents, which was allowed.

The court, on September 11, had extended by four weeks the interim protection from arrest granted to Teesta Setalvad and her husband in the case. Sibal had then mentioned the issue on behalf of the couple, saying the interim order was expiring on September 15.

In the latest incidence of ‘ghar wapsi’, around 300 people converted to Hinduism in Ausanpur village, 16 kilometers from Varanasi.

Those converted used to frequent a church that had come in the area a few years ago.

They were brought back to the Hindu fold by an organisation called the Dharma Jagran Samanvya Samiti.

The report adds that those converted after ‘shuddhikaran’ were handed over a Gita and Hamuman Chalisa.

Interestingly, the report quotes an unnamed villager as saying that those converted had never left Hindu religion at the first place. He said that they had changed their faith not their religion as they feared losing the benefits that come from their SC status.

Even as the first phase of polls in Bihar is under way, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a direct attack on JD(U)-RJD combine and said that their only agenda is to ensure the fall of Narendra Modi.

Addressing a mammoth gathering here, Modi said, “All BJP leaders say give us vote for the development of Bihar, it is our only agenda…and what do they say…they keeping on saying that we will ensure ‘Modi ka vinash’ (fall of Modi).”

“Is ‘Modi ka vinash’ an election issue…daily they say this and one leader even says that once Bihar is over, Modi will be finished off in Delhi as well,” he added.

“Democracy is not meant to be used to ensure someone’s fall but is meant to ensure that the aspirations of people are fulfilled,” Modi said.

Exhorting people to vote for the BJP, Modi said, “It is after 30 years that people of Bihar have decided to have a government that will be friendly with the Centre.”

“Bihar now needs a government that will be accountable in Bihar as well as Delhi. I want to work for Bihar but if there’s a government here that will create roadblocks then no matter how much I try I will not be able to develop Bihar,” he added.

The first phase of the Bihar assembly elections on Monday saw a voter turnout of 57 per cent. Polling was held for 49 of 243 constituencies on the state, where the BJP hopes to deprive Nitish Kumar of a straight third term as Chief Minister.

The Election Commission said voter turnout is a record for Bihar. In the 2010 assembly elections, 50.85 per cent of the electorate had voted. Women turned out in larger numbers to vote than men – 59.5 per cent of the women voted and 54.5 per cent of the men. There were 1.35 crore voters in this phase.

Added to the tight security detail for the first phase election was the deployment of three drones.

Polling was very peaceful, said Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha

Of the 49 seats where polling was held, Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) had won 29 in 2010. But it had fought that election in partnership with the BJP, which now leads the rival camp. Mr. Kumar’s new ally is Lalu Prasad Yadav, his number 1 rival in the last election.

This time, the JD(U) is contesting 24 of the 49 seats in the first phase, Lalu’s RJD is contesting 17 and third partner Congress is contesting eight. The big worry is whether Lalu Prasad will be able to transfer his votes to the JD(U).

The BJP is contesting 27 seats in the first phase and ally Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP is contesting 13. The LJP has high stakes in this phase – it holds four of this region’s eight Lok Sabha seats. Other BJP allies are contesting the nine other seats.

The BJP-led coalition is targeting at winning at least 30 of the 49 seats in today’s election to get a strong start in what is seen as a neck-and-neck contest.