Rahul Gandhi gets death threat ahead of Bharat Jodo Yatra's entry into BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh

Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday (18) received a death threat ahead of his party's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' (Unite India March) entering the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, located in the country's Hindi heartland.

The 52-year-old former president of India's grand-old party, which is trying to regain lost ground in the era of prime minister Narendra Modi, was threatened with being bombed as soon as he arrived in the city of Indore in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state.

According to a report in India Today, a letter threatening Gandhi was found outside a sweet shop in the city. Police started scanning CCTV footage of the area and were in the hunt of the person(s) who left the letter.

Officers told India Today that a case has been registered under Section 507 of the Indian Penal Code (criminal intimidation by anonymous communication) against an unidentified person and a probe was launched.

The threat came a day after Gandhi targeted Veer Savarkar, an icon of the Indian right, saying that the latter had helped the British rulers and wrote a mercy petition to them out of fear.

The remark by the parliamentarian triggered a row and led to a backlash.

On Thursday (17), Gandhi displayed a copy of what he said Savarkar's letter to the British seeking mercy at a press conference in Akola in the western state of Maharashtra where he was present for the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.

"Savarkar signed this letter whereas Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel were in prison for years… did not write any letter. I believe Savarkarji signed this letter because of fear," Gandhi said.

Savarkar's grandson lodged a police complaint against Gandhi the same day in Mumbai on charges of insult.

Uddhav Thackeray, former chief minister of Maharashtra who headed a coalition government that included Gandhi's Congress, said his party had immense respect for Savarkar and that he did not approve of the Congress leader's remark.

Meanwhile, Tushar Gandhi, great grandson of India's iconic freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi, joined Rahul Gandhi in the march at Shegaon in Buldhana district of Maharashtra on Friday morning.

The march is about to conclude its Maharashtra leg and will enter Madhya Pradesh on Sunday (20).

Thane police in Maharashtra has also filed a case of defamation against Gandhi for his remarks against Savarkar, reported Press Trust of India.

The first information report was filed on the basis of a complaint lodged by Vandana Dongre, a functionary of the Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde.