Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday had a close shave when a portion of the dais set up for one of his election rallies in Bihar caved in.

Mr Gandhi was at Paliganj, on the outskirts of the state capital, to canvass for RJD president Lalu Prasad’s daughter Misa Bharti, who is contesting the Patliputra Lok Sabha seat.

Ms Bharti was leading Mr Gandhi towards his seat when he was seen struggling for balance as a portion of the make-shift stage sagged.

An alert Ms Bharti quickly held Mr Gandhi by the hand, helping him regain his balance and they smilingly told anxious security personnel, who ran to help, that the Congress leader was fine. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The top leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc are set to meet in the national capital on June 1 to assess their performance in the Lok Sabha elections and chalk out their strategy ahead of the results. The sources said the proposed meeting will be convened in the afternoon of June 1 when the last phase of polling will be underway. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, who is one of the senior-most leaders of the opposition bloc, has convened the meeting, they said.

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Monday confirmed that he had called the Pune police commissioner after the Porsche accident. Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, the deputy CM said, “As a people’s representative, we receive calls regarding such accidents. I police commissioner and told him that the accused boy was from a wealthy family and there was a chance police might be pressured. I told him not to succumb to any political pressure.”