Bengaluru (PTI): On the second day of his two-day visit to poll-bound Karnataka, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will have an interaction with sugarcane farmers and youth, and later address a public meeting in the state on Monday.

At 2 pm, the former AICC president will take part in an interaction with sugarcane farmers at Ramdurg in Belagavi district.

He will then leave for Gadag to take part in 'Yuva Samvaad' (interaction with youth).

Gandhi will then be in Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's neighbouring constituency of Hangal in Haveri district where he will be addressing a public meeting in the evening. Bommai is contesting from Shiggaon segment in the district.

The Congress leader will then leave for Hubballi to board a flight back to Delhi.

On arriving in Karnataka on Sunday, Gandhi had paid obeisance to 12th-century poet and social reformer Basaveshwara at his resting place in Kudala Sangama, on the occasion of his birth anniversary that is observed as 'Basava Jayanti' in the state. He then travelled to Vijayapura where he held a massive roadshow and addressed a public meeting.

Karnataka will go to Assembly polls on May 10.

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Sukma, Jan 11: Nine hardcore Naxalites, allegedly involved in attacks on security forces and carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs 43 lakh, surrendered in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Saturday, police said.

The cadres, including two women, turned themselves in before senior officials from the police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) here, citing disappointment with "hollow" and "inhuman" Maoist ideology and infighting within the outlawed outfit, Sukma Superintendent of Police Kiran Chavan said.

He said the surrendered Naxalites were also impressed by the state government's 'Niyad Nellanar' (your good village) scheme, which aims at facilitating development works in remote villages and stated that senior cadres were on backfoot with the increasing pressure of security forces and setting up of police camps in interior areas.

The official said Ransai alias Oyam Buska (34), the commander of platoon no 24 of Maoists, and Pradip alias Ravva Rakesh (20), a member under a company wing of PLGA battalion no. 1, were carrying a reward of Rs 8 lakh each.

He said four other cadres carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh, a woman Naxalite carried a reward of Rs 3 lakh, and two others, including a woman, carried a bounty of Rs 2 lakh each.

Chavan said Ransai was allegedly involved in attacks, including the Jhara Ghati ambush in Narayanpur district in 2007, wherein seven policemen were killed; the 2007 Ranibodli (Bijapur district) attack, in which 55 security personnel died; the 2017 ambush in Burkapal (Sukma), where 25 CRPF personnel were killed and the 2020 Minpa ambush (Sukma) that killed 17 security personnel.

The other surrendered cadres were also involved in multiple attacks on security forces, he said.

Personnel from Konta police station, District Reserve Guard (DRG), Intelligence Branch Team and 2nd and 223rd battalions played a crucial role in their surrender, he said.

The official said the surrendered Naxalites were provided Rs 25,000 each and will be further rehabilitated as per the government's policy.

Last year, 792 Naxalites had surrendered in the Bastar region, comprising seven districts, including Sukma.