On the day he filed his nomination from Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said “the day I do Hindu-Muslim, I will be unworthy of public life” and “it is my resolve” that “I will not do Hindu-Muslim”. These remarks came days after he attacked the Congress, saying, “Earlier, when they were in power, they had said Muslims have the first right to the wealth of the nation… They will give (this wealth) to those who have more children, to infiltrators.”Meanwhile, in his reply to the Election Commission on Opposition parties’ complaint that the PM’s speeches were divisive, BJP president J P Nadda has not only defended all of Modi’s statements but also urged the EC to take action against the Congress for its alleged denigration of Hinduism.The Amethi contest has a new edge this time: of a fight between a so-called “chaprasi (peon)” and a Union minister. If K L Sharma’s Gandhi devotion is both his strongest – and weakest – points, BJP workers talk in hushed tones about Smriti Irani’s “high handedness”, and how it might cost them.Only in ExpressIn his weekly column, Raja Mandala, contributing editor C Raja Mohan writes on “what India’s chattering classes don’t understand about American politics and foreign policy”. “The debate on democracy in general and Indian democracy in particular might suggest that American and European foreign policies are run by missionaries to spread political liberalism. Nothing could be further from reality.”From the Front PageOn Monday evening, 14 people died and 75 others were injured when a giant billboard collapsed in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar area. However, it was more than a year ago that civic authorities had red-marked it, and yet, no action was taken. Here’s what records investigated by The Indian Express and interviews with key officials show.In what would be the first instance of a political party being accused of money laundering, the Enforcement Directorate has told the Delhi High Court that it will be making Aam Aadmi Party an accused in the Delhi excise policy case in its next prosecution complaint regarding alleged money laundering.Story continues below this adA retired Indian Army colonel has lost his life in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict after his vehicle came under attack in Rafah. This marks the first casualty among the United Nations’ international staff in Gaza since the conflict began in October last year.Must ReadThe extreme heat in parts of eastern and southern India this April has been attributed to climate change, according to a new study. However, this is not a surprise as with soaring global temperatures, heatwaves have become more frequent and intense in the country. We explain the findings of the new study.With both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi taking potshots at businessmen Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani during recent election campaigning programmes, Aakash Joshi writes: “Both Congress and BJP should count the lack of animosity towards big business as a success — their governments have helped create and nurture the environment in which such a desire for wealth isn’t delusional. Instead, they are going against their history.There’s a new coronavirus variant called KP.2 — nicknamed FLiRT — that has been linked to rising cases of Covid-19 in the United States, United Kingdom, and South Korea and has also been in circulation in India since November 2023. What is it and should you be worried? We explain.And Finally…Story continues below this adWho will be replacing Rahul Dravid as the coach of the Indian cricket team? This has been a question plaguing both the BCCI and cricket fans alike. However, now, it is known that the board is considering former New Zealand captain and current Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming as a potential successor to Dravid. However, the BCCI has a condition for the new head coach. Read On.Delhi Confidential: Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has not campaigned in elections in a long time because of her health but she might be coming out soon in support of her son Rahul in Rae Bareli.🎧 In today’s edition of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we talk about challenges the BJP is facing in Madhya Pradesh this Lok Sabha polls, why the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra requires translocation of tigers and Swati Maliwal’s allegation that CM Arvind Kejriwal’s personal assistant misbehaved with her.Until tomorrow,Sonal Gupta and Rounak Bagchi Business As Usual by EP Unny