Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday took a joyride on a delivery boy’s scooter in Bengaluru as he hopped in the man’s two-wheeler and rode pillion.

In a video that has been widely viewed and shared on the internet, the Gandhi scion, who is currently campaigning for the Congress ahead of the May 10 elections in Karnataka, is seen surrounded by a large of crowd of supporters and party workers in the heart of Bengaluru city.

The former Wayanad MP then stops to console a little boy who apparently became emotional after meeting Gandhi and in the meantime a delivery man stops near the Congress leader as he’s comforting the kid.

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Then, in the spur of the moment, Rahul Gandhi hops on the man’s scooter, puts on a helmet as the two slowly ride through the swarm of the leader’s supporters.

According to reports, Rahul Gandhi rode pillion with the delivery agent for nearly 2 kms before he dropped the former Congress chief at his hotel.

The videos of Rahul Gandhi’s spontaneous scooter ride with the delivery agent have gone viral on social media with users appreciating the Congress scion’s down-to-earth style of connecting with people.

Rahul Gandhi, who has been mired in a legal battle after he was disqualified from the Lok Sabha following his conviction and sentencing in a 2019 criminal defamation case, is scheduled to hold a slew of public meetings in Bengaluru city ahead of the May 10 Karnataka polls.

Assembly elections will be held in Karnataka on May 10 and counting of votes will take place on May 13.

The Congress and the ruling BJP have been embroiled in a bitter tug of war in the poll-bound state even as the grand old party released a manifesto in which it promised to ban Sangh-affiliated right-wing Hindutva outfit Bajrang Dal if its voted to power in Karnataka.

BJP chief JP Nadda to attend special screening of The Kerala Story in Bengaluru

EC notice to Karnataka Congress over corruption rate card ads against BJP

Bharatiya Janata Party national president JP Nadda will attend a special screening of controversial Bollywood film ‘The Kerala Story’ in poll-bound Karnataka’s Bengaluru on Sunday.

Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) chief Tejasvi Surya made the announcement on his official Twitter handle that Nadda will attend the screening at Bengaluru’s Garuda Mall at 8:45 pm today.

In a tweet, Surya called ‘The Kerala Story’ an “important movie” which he claimed documents and reflects the current social issues in Kerala and rest of the country, adding that the film has a “salient message” for young women.

Surya said young girl students from Bengaluru have been invited to join BJP chief JP Nadda for a special screening of the film at 8:45 pm on Sunday evening at the Garuda Mall at the city’s MG Road.

‘The Kerala Story’ has sparked a controversy since its first trailer—which claimed that 32,000 women from the state were converted to Islam and recruited by global terror group Islamic State—  hit the screens in November last year.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who has vehemently opposed the film, recently termed it as a “deliberately produced” piece of Sangh Parivar propaganda aimed to create communal divide and spread hatred among Hindus and Muslims in the state.

Read Also: The Kerala Story row: Tamil Nadu multiplexes stop screenings from today citing poor response, threats

The film was issued an ‘A’ certificate by the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and told tol delete 10 scenes, including an interview with a former chief minister of Kerala, ahead of its theatrical release.

On Friday, the film’s producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah, on the directions of the Kerala High Court, agreed to remove the the movie’s teaser from its social media page.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan-led BJP government has declared the film tax-free in Madhya Pradesh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a poll rally on Friday, accused the Congress of “siding with terrorists” and trying to appease them for political gain by opposing the ‘The Kerala Story’ which he claimed “exposes the terrorist conspiracy” in Left-ruled Kerala.

Addressing a public rally in Bellari in poll-bound Karnataka, PM Modi alleged that the Congress was lending support to terrorist elements by attempting to ban the film.

The Prime Minister in a scathing attack against the Congress alleged that the grand old party was “kneeling” to terror apologists by the opposing ‘The Kerala Story’ which he claimed is based on a true terrorist conspiracy in the state of Kerala.

Rahul Gandhi rides pillion on delivery boy’s scooter in Bengaluru | WATCH

No evidence of Rs 100 crore kickbacks, ED probe proved AAP most honest party: Delhi minister Atishi Singh

The Election Commission on Sunday issue a notice to the Karnataka Congress over the grand old party’s “corruption rate card” advertisements which targetted the BJP. The Congress has also been asked to file “empirical evidence” to prove its allegations by today evening.

The EC issued a notice to the Congress following a complaint filed by the BJP with the poll regulator on Saturday after the Congress reportedly targetted the saffron party by publishing “corruption rate card” in newspapers.

The EC in its notice, while citing provisions of the model code of conduct (MCC), Representation of the People Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC), has said that prima facie, it appears that the Congress has “violated” provision of the model code by publishing the advertisement.

Dubbing the BJP regime in poll-bound Karnataka a “trouble engine”, the Congress released posters and advertisements of “corruption rates” in the state from 2019-2023.

Ahead of the May 10 assembly polls in Karnataka, Congress released a set of posters and advertisements listing “corruption rates” in the state, between 2019 and 2023, while terming the BJP government a “trouble engine”.

The EC notice further said: “It is a fair assumption that INC possesses the material/empirical/verifiable evidence based on which these specific/explicit ‘facts’ have been published, an action which can fairly be assessed to embed knowledge, motive and intent to do so by the author.”

As per the notice, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president has been asked to furnish empirical evidence of the allegations.. “the evidences for rates for kinds of appointments and transfers, kinds of jobs and kinds of commission mentioned in the advertisement given by you along with if any explanation, by 19.00 hrs on 7th May 2023, and also put that in public domain.”

The EC notice said if the Congress fails to furnish the said “evidence” by 7 pm today evening, it would have to show reasons “reasons as to “why action should not be initiated against you for violating the model code of conduct and relevant legal provisions under the Representation of the People Act and IPC.”

The EC noted that while criticism of the policy and governance of opponent parties is a right guaranteed under the Constitution as well as an essential function of various political actors under the Indian electoral process, however, while exercising this right, parties are expected to “uphold high standards of public discourse and adhere to various provisions of MCC and relevant laws.”