Congress scion Rahul Gandhi on Sunday held a mega roadshow in Vijayapura district of poll-bound Karnataka as a massive crowd was seen lined up on both sides of the road to greet the former Wayanad MP.

Rahul Gandhi, who is currently embroiled in a legal battle to regain his MP status after being disqualified from the Lok Sabha following his conviction and sentence in a criminal defamation case, was seen standing atop a specially designed vehicle, waving at an enthusiastic crowd that had greeted the Gandhi scion amid deafening cheers and slogans in favour of the Congress leader.

The former Congress president kicked off his roadshow after garlanding a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Vijayapura and moved across town amid a sea of Congress supporters lined up on either side of the road on the route.

Congress supporters and workers carrying the grand old party’s flag walked along as Gandhi accompanied by other leaders of the party traversed the streets from Shivaji Circle and Kanakadasa Circle amid loud cheers, sounds of drum beats and deafening sloganeering.

Rahul Gandhi was accompanied by Karnataka Congress campaign committee chief M B Patil and several other party leaders and workers on the road show.

Earlier today, Gandhi began his two-day visit to election-bound Karnataka from Kudala Sangama, where he paid obeisance to 12th-century poet and social reformer Basaveshwara on his birth anniversary, celebrated as Basava Jayanti.

Meanwhile, the Congress, which seeks to oust the BJP from power in Karnataka, announced today that the Communist Party of India (CPI) will, without any pre-conditions, back the Congress on 215 seats in next month’s Assembly elections.

Addressing a presser earlier today, senior party leader Randeep Surjewala said the Congress reached out to the CPI— who recently announced their support for the grand old party in the May 10 polls— and it was agreed that the entire CPI cadre will “whole-heartedly without any pre-condition or expectation” support the Congress candidates in their battle to oust the ruling BJP from power.

Karnataka goes to polls on May 10 and results for the 224-member Assembly will be announced on May 13.

In a shameful incident, a man in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh was arrested for allegedly raping his 16-year-old daughter and her friend of the same age, police said on Sunday.

A senior police official said the man, a former head of a village in Gagalhedi police station area, is accused of repeatedly raping his own minor daughter and her friend.

Superintendent of Police (SP), City Abhimanyu Manglik said the accused was arrested on Friday evening following a complaint by his daughter who narrated the ordeal to the cops.

In her complaint, the teenager told the police that her father used to rape her and her friend, a resident of Sabhal district

As per the complaint, the two girls never spoke out against this abuse nor told anyone about it, owing to social pressure. However, the minor girls finally reached a breaking point and decided to go to the police.

SP Manglik said the accused has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the POCSO Act while the two victims have been sent for medical examination, adding that further investigation is underway.

In a similar incident, a 60-year-old man was arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur last month for allegedly raping his 15-year-old granddaughter.

As per reports at the time, the minor girl was grazing goats along with her mother when the accused asked his daughter-in-law to return home and later asked his granddaughter to fetch an axe for chopping firewood.

When the girl returned with the axe, the man took her to a remote spot in the fields where he raped her and after the act, tried to bribe her with a 10 rupee note to keep quiet.

The man’s vile act was witnessed by a local who raised an alarm following which a large crowd gathered, thrashed the accused and informed the police about the incident.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security details were leaked days ahead of his visit to Left-ruled Kerala, Union Minister of State V Muraleedharan claimed on Sunday while also attacking the Pinarayi Vijyan-led government of remaining silent on the issue.

In a statement to news agency ANI, Muraleedharan said he was “surprised” that the proposed details of the Prime Minister’s security arrangements got leaked in the media and WhatsApp groups and yet the Kerala government is “surprisingly” silent of the matter.

Muraleedharan said that in a matter of grave importance such as this, the person responsible should have been identified and prosecuted within 24 hours, however, the Left government did not take any action.

Recently, a 49-page report by ADGP (Intelligence) containing the details of the names of officials on duty, their role and detailed programme chart of the prime minister was telecast on Malayalam media.

The BJP has slammed the Kerala Police for this “grave mistake” and also sought an explanation from CM Vijayan over the alleged leak days before PM Modi’s visit to the southern state.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, the Kerala unit of the BJP received a letter warning of an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his upcoming two-day visit to the state.

As per reports quoting sources, a letter was received at the Kerala BJP’s headquarters on April 17 warning of a life threat to PM Modi during his scheduled visit to the state on April 24.

They said the letter bearing the name of one Joseph Johnny as the sender, a resident of Ernakulam, was been handed over to the state police by Kerala BJP chief K. Surendran.

The alleged sender, Johnny, was traced by the cops but denied having done anything wrong, reports said.

Reports on Sunday said a man identified as Xavier, had written the letter and sent it by Johnny’s name to frame him.