Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi hops on to a motorcycle after his convoy is stopped on the way to Mandsaur.

Gandhi flew in to Udaipur today from where he took the road to travel to Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh.

There is heavy police bandobast around Mandsaur, and Neemuch SP, Manoj Kumar Singh, who replaced the earlier SP OP Tripathi after the farmer deaths in police firing, said the Congress leader will not be allowed to enter.

From Udaipur, Mandsaur is about 180 km away. At some point in the dusty journey, Rahul swapped vehicles and went pillion. Rajasthan Congress chief and a close aide, Sachin Pilot, also did likewise. The Congress VP said the MP government was stopping him from meeting the families of farmers.

Mandsaur is under curfew after days of relentless protests ended in five deaths of farmers.

At least 700 policemen have guarded the border where the Congress convoy was expected to enter the troubled district.

For over a week, a large group of farmers have been protesting in Mandsaur, demanding better prices for their crop and loan waivers.

Today, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bhupendra Singh confirmed today the death of five farmers in the clashes was because of police firing, which he had vehemently denied earlier.

Yesterday, Mr Gandhi announced on Twitter that he would travel to the state that has continuously voted the BJP since 2003.

This is not the first time, Rahul has hopped on to a bike ditching his convoy. In 2011, Rahul rode pillion to the Bhatta and Parsaul villages in UP at the height of the farmers' agitation. Incidentally, the man who drove the bike, has joined the BJP.