Rahul Gandhi to head to Kailash Mansarovar by August end

NEW DELHI: Self-proclaimed “Shiv Bhakt” Rahul Gandhi will embark on his promised pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar this month end, perhaps from August 31, Congress sources said amid indications that the Congress president has already taken the mandatory permission from the government.

Many see Gandhi's resolve to visit 'the abode of Lord Shiva' as an attempt to assert the Nehru-Gandhi family's Kashmiri Pandit origin. As the annual pilgrimage is to end on September 8, Gandhi is expected to return in time to kickstart his campaign programme in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on the 17th.

The 47-year-old Congress president had promised to make this pilgrimage after an incident during the Karnataka poll campaign last April in which his plane plunged several feet after developing a technical snag.


Gandhi's temple visits during his campaigns in Gujarat and Karnataka had led to talks in political circles that he was trying to send a conscious message against the BJP's attempt to paint the Congress as “anti-Hindu”.

For the record, the AICC spokesperson merely said the party will advertise Gandhi’s travel programmes as and when they are finalised.