Rahul Gandhi to embark on Kailash Mansarovar yatra; Congress president will take 60-km journey on foot via China

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is set to undertake a 12-day pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar on Friday. Rahul is expected to cover a distance of 60 kilometres on foot in 12 days, CNN-News18 reported .

Rahul is to travel through China, instead of Nepal, and has received permission from the Ministry of External Affairs. The Chinese government is also reportedly informed of Rahul’s plan.

#BREAKING -- Exclusive details of @RahulGandhi's Mansarovar pilgrimage #RahulKailashYatra | @_pallavighosh with more details pic.twitter.com/SkWCEuZxIo

— News18 (@CNNnews18) August 31, 2018

According to reports, Gandhi’s decision to undertake the pilgrimage comes at a crucial time, in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. One of the objectives of announcing his plan to join the yatra could be to shake off the ‘minority appeasement’ tag.

However, Rahul, who has often talked about being a devotee of Lord Shiva, said that the thought first occurred to him after he had a ’near-death’ experience in April. A chartered plane with Rahul and his associates onboard suddenly plummeted 8,000 feet in April, barely avoiding a mishap. The DGCA report that came out on Friday revealed that the flight was just 20 seconds away from a crash when the aircraft developed a technical snag while flying from Delhi to Hubli on 26 April.

Rahul had first spoken about his wish to take the yatra was in the run-up to the Karnataka Assembly elections while he was addressing a rally in Delhi’s Ramleela Maidan on 29 April. He had concluded his speech but he sought the mike again momentarily after stepping back and asked the Congress workers’ “permission” to take the pilgrimage, saying he will need 10-15 days for it.

“A few days ago, we were on our way to Karnataka in an aircraft. And the aircraft suddenly came down by 8,000 feet. I thought ‘gaadi gayi’ (it was all over),” he had said in his first public comment on the incident, which occurred on 26 April.

“The moment I thought that it was all over, it struck my mind that I have to go to Kailash Mansarovar. So, I would require your leave of 10-15 days after the Karnataka Assembly polls,” he had said to the gathering at the Ramlila Maidan.