Rahul Gandhi rides a bike during his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi rode a motorcycle this morning during his Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is currently passing through Madhya Pradesh. His bike ride in Mhow followed an encounter with two animal lovers who were tailing his rally on the bike with their dog Marvel.
Wearing a helmet, Mr Gandhi rode their motorcycle over a blue carpet as security personnel cleared the road ahead, a video showed.
Before that, he met the two riders - Rajat Parashar and Sarthak, who wanted to discuss animal welfare with him.
"Rahul Gandhi is an amazing person. My views about him have changed since I met him. I knew he was an animal lover, so I wanted to meet him and discuss animal deaths on road," said Rajat, a civil engineer from Gwalior who takes care of stray dogs.
The Congress also shared photos of Mr Gandhi with Marvel, a 10-month-old German Shepherd. The former party chief happens to be a dog lover by his own account.
"Mr Gandhi gave treats to Marvel and invited us to join his rally," said Rajat as he thanked NDTV for an earlier report on his journey with Marvel to meet Mr Gandhi.
Marvel is trained for such trips and has already travelled from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, he said. His bike's rear seat has a customised cradle-like setup where his companion sits comfortably with Marvel.
The 3,500-km footmarch led by Mr Gandhi began from Tamil Nadu in September. It has completed about half its route and is set to conclude in January.