Rahul Gandhi ignores home ministry advice; lands in Uttarakhand hills

NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday visited Guptkashi and Kedarnath, the epicentre of disaster in Uttarakhand. He had flown to Uttarakhand on Monday to monitor the rescue and relief operations. He spent the night at a base camp at Gauchar. His trip comes as Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said that VVIP visits are impeding rescue operations.

“Rahul is not going there as a VIP. He is going there as a citizen, as the VP of Congress to oversee that the relief materials reach the right place,” Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhary said. Shinde on Tuesday said in Patna:“I had told the state government not to allow any VIP except CM Vijay Bahuguna to land to keep security forces free and to help them concentrate on relief and rehabilitation work for the pilgrims.”