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.

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.

The body of a man from Uttar Pradesh was found by the Delhi Police in Raj Park locality of Sultanpuri in the national capital on Sunday morning, officials said, adding that injury marks were found on the deceased man’s body and it’s suspected that he was murdered.

According to the police, the deceased was identified as 32-year-old as Jitender Kumar, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras, according to details found from his Aadhaar card.

An official said the victim’s body had clear marks of stabbing by a sharp weapon, indicating that he was likely murdered, however, all his personal belongings were intact which rules out robbery as the motive behind the killing.

The official said the police have filed a case of murder under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and a team of forensic experts also collected evidence and samples from the crime scene, adding that the body was sent to the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital for post mortem examination to ascertain the exact cause of death.

He said the police received a PCR call at around 12:23 am on Sunday morning informing that a man had been stabbed near Raj Park Rathi Hospital Street, adding that Jitender was rushed to a nearby government hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

The official further said that the motive behind the murder is yet to be uncovered and further investigation is going on, adding that footage from security cameras installed in and around the crime scene is being analysed to identify and nab the culprit or culprits.

More details are awaited, he added.

Meanwhile, reports quoting eyewitnesses said the stabbing was so grotesque that the victim’s guts had been ripped out and his intestines had fallen out.

They said that the entire locality has been stunned after the news of the brutal murder came to light.