Days after Priyanka Gandhi made personal attacks on her son and BJP leader Varun Gandhi, Maneka Gandhi on Wednesday retorted by saying that it looks like a nervous reaction from the Congress party, which is all set to lose badly in this election.

Asking Priyanka Gandhi to focus on the ongoing elections, Maneka Gandhi said, “Priyanka’s attack looks like a nervous reaction as Varun is contesting.”

Reacting to Priyanka’s comment that Varun Gandhi has strayed from his path, Maneka said, “The country will decide who’s done what.”

“It’s not a fight between two families, nor between two cousins,” the BJP leader added further.

Maneka also slammed Priyanka Gandhi and Congress for targeting Modi and making accusations that he had sidelined all his seniors colleagues in the party.

“I don’t know what ideology is being mentioned by the Congress. The results of the 2014 polls will make everything clear,” she said.

Maneka’s reactions came two days after Priyanka said that Varun Gandhi has strayed from his path and urged the voters to show him the right path.

“He (Varun Gandhi) is definitely from my family, he is my brother. But he has gone astray. When a young one in the family chooses the wrong path, then the elders show them the right path, the right way. I urge all of you to show my brother the right path,” Priyanka had said.

The attack on Varun was made by Priyanka as she addressed party workers during her visit to Sultanpur on Saturday when she accompanied Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi as he filed his nomination papers from Amethi.

Significantly, Varun is contesting Lok Sabha polls from the Sultanpur constituency on a BJP ticket.

The comment by Priyanka was made after the 34-year-old BJP candidate had praised the development work done by Rahul in Amethi.

Soon after the remark was made, his mother Maneka Gandhi said that whatever he had said was wrong and there was no development work in the constituency.

Varun Gandhi then backtracked and said that his statement should not be considered as an endorsement of any political party or candidate.

Two persons including a policeman were held captive by a group of villagers in the district before being rescued, police said on Wednesday.

“Sukhavinder a trader from Patiala, who had come to Utavar village with his brother Gurjeet Singh by car, for servicing of reaper for Mubarik (a villager) of the village…They had some altercation following which, other villagers also joined in it,” they said.

The villagers then held the duo captive but brother Gurjeet managed to escape and inform the police of the incident.

He reported the matter to SI Vinod Kumar Gautam, at Gopal Bagh police outpost but when the police reached the spot SI Gautam was manhandled and his service revolver was snatched and he was also held captive, the complaint filed by Sukhavinder said.

A constable who had also been held captive along with Gautam, escaped a reported the case following which police rescued them all.

When heavy police reached the village led by SHO Yashkant Singh, the captive were released and service revolver was also given back to the sub-inspector.

An FIR has been registered against the accused Mubarik and six others and efforts have been intensified to nab the culprits, SSP Akhilesh Kumar Meena said.

“No body is above law. The law will take its own course against the villagers who not only kept a trader captive but also manhandled a sub inspector and snatched his service revolver. They would be arrested shortly”, Meena said.

Bollywood playback singer and BJP candidate for the Asansol Lok Sabha seat, Babul Supriyo on Wednesday said the Raniganj police station in Burdwan district had asked him to appear before it but he has asked for 48-hours time.

Supriyo said the Raniganj police station sent a letter to him by post yesterday asking him to appear before them as Trinamool Congress leader Senapati Mondal had lodged a complaint against him on March 12.

“I told the police that I had a prior engagement in Kolkata today, so I would not be able to appear before them. I asked them 48-hours time to appear before them,” Supriyo said.

On March 12, Supriyo had alleged that he was heckled by Trinamool Congress backed miscreants when he was participating in a roadshow at Raniganj.

The singer had alleged that the miscreants abused and heckled him and his supporters and pelted stones at them.

After Supriyo had alleged that he was heckled by Trinamool Congress backed miscreants, local TMC leader Senapati Mondal denied Supriyo’s allegation and instead lodged a police complaint against him in the Raniganj police station.

On the basis of the complaint lodged by Mondal the Raniganj police station had asked the singer to appear before them.

At least six people were burned to death and another 12 seriously injured when a bus caught fire in Karnataka on Wednesday morning, said police.

The accident occurred near Davanagere, a village nearly 260 kilometers northwest of Bangalore.

Those injured in the accident have been hospitalised, said a police official.

The fire was caused by a leak in the diesel fuel tank of the bus which carried 29 passengers, said Murthy.

More than 110,000 people are killed every year in road accidents across India, according to police. Bus accidents due to reckless driving, bad roads and poorly maintained vehicles are common in India.

BSF troopers killed a Pakistani smuggler and recovered eight kg of heroin following a shootout in Punjab’s Amritsar sector, a BSF officer said Wednesday.

The seizure is valued Rs.40 crore in the international market. The Border Security Force (BSF) troopers recovered a pistol magazine, 12 rounds of ammunition, a Pakistani mobile and a SIM card from the spot.

“BSF troopers deployed in Rajatal border outpost of Amritsar sector April 16 observed suspicious movement of four-five smugglers, of whom three were from Pakistan. BSF men challenged the smugglers and when fired upon, the troopers retaliated,” a BSF spokesman said.

The BSF has seized 228 kg of heroin valued Rs.1,140 crore in the first three-and-a-half months of this year. Of this, the BSF recovered 139 kg of heroin in the Amritsar sector alone.

In 2013, 322 kg of heroin was seized in the Punjab sector.

Union minister Farooq Abdullah today claimed that the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi wants to “eliminate” Muslims. He also said he was confident that the Congress will not allow Mr Modi to succeed in his designs.

“I do not fear Modi but his intentions, which he has for India. He wants to eliminate Muslims if you want to hear the truth,” Mr. Abdullah, who is the president of ruling National Conference in J&K, told reporters in Baramulla, about 55 km from Srinagar.

“He (Modi) wants to play communal politics and is taking the country towards communalism”, Mr. Abdullah said.

He, however, said that the Congress is steadfast to fight him. Mr. Abdullah, who is seeking re-election from the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, said the state government was committed to revoking the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and asked Pakistan to stop pushing militants into the state.

“The government is committed that AFSPA has to be removed from the areas where it is not needed. There is no difficulty about that,” he said, adding “I hope our friends in Pakistan would stop sending militants then probably AFSPA would go completely.”

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Congress President Saif-ud-din Soz criticised the Election Commission (EC) for its failure to take action against Mr. Modi for his spendings on election campaign through media houses in the country.

“The EC has to think and see how much money does Modi have. There is a charge on him as a few days back there was a media report that he has spent Rs. 5,000 crore on media. He (Modi) is given a huge space on television channels, why isn’t Advani or Rahul Gandhi or even Sonia Gandhi not given such a coverage? That is why EC has to think about it. The EC is not above law. That is my point,” Mr. Soz said.