Rahul Gandhi to start third round of election campaign in poll-bound Karnataka from March 20

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will kickstart the third leg of his election campaign in poll bound Karnataka from March 20.

Gandhi, who visited northern parts of the state in the earlier two rounds, will be touring the south coastal and Malnad regions during his two-day visit.

Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Chikkamagaluru that has strong BJP presence, and Hassan, the home district of former Prime Minister and Janata Dal Secular supremo H D Deve Gowda will be part of the Congress president's visit this time.

Continuing with his visit to religious places, as done in the last two rounds, Gandhi will visit Gokarnatheswara temple, Rosario church, Ullal dargah, Sringeri Sharadamba temple and also Sringeri mutt.

He will also be meeting Jagadguru Shankaracharya, Sri Bharati Tirtha Swamiji of the Sringeri mutt.

According to the schedule released to the media, Gandhi will be addressing several corner and public meetings during his visit.

Meetings with senior state party leadership, local leaders and interaction with students of Rajiv Gandhi Sanskrit University, Sringeri, are part of his itinerary.

The Congress president is once again expected to tour the state, in old Mysuru region on March 24 and 25.

He is scheduled to tour Mysuru, Mandya and Chamarajanagara districts, and is expected to address a mega rally at Maharaja ground in Mysuru on March 25 evening, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said recently.