UP elections: Sonia sends letter to 15,000 Muslims

In a novel move to reach out to Muslims in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has penned a letter in Urdu and sent it to 15,000 members of the community.

The letter has made a strong plea for support of the community "in her fight against forces of casteism and communalism," party sources said.

MP Rahul Gandhi, in his roadshows, had also sought to woo the Muslim community by stating that if anyone from the Nehru-Gandhi family had been active in politics, the Babri Masjid would not have been demolished.

Meanwhile, about 50 per cent of the 15.1 million electorate today voted in the third phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, the Election Commission said.

During the polling, there was tension in Kaimganj constituency in Farrukhabad district after Congress candidate Louis Khursheed and her husband and UPCC Chief Salman Khursheed's names were found missing from the voters' list, due to which they could not vote, according to a report.

Congress workers protested the omission, after which the Commissioner, Kanpur Division, Anita Bhatnagar Jain, rushed to the site to look into the matter.

This phase of the UP elections will decide the fate of 861 candidates, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is contesting from Gunnaur seat in Badaon district.