Rahul Gandhi to trek to Kedarnath shrine in Uttarakhand on Friday

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will undertake a yatra to Kedarnath on 24 April, trekking 18 kms up into the Uttarakhand mountains to pay obeisance at the temple which faced the brunt of flash-floods two years ago and has since been spruced up. [caption id=“attachment_2116767” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. AFP[/caption] The 45-year-old Congress leader will start his yatra from Gauri Kund at around 11.30 AM along with a number of political leaders and others, sources said here today. He will stay overnight en route to Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand and pay obeisance the day after at 8.30 AM, when it is opened for pujas, the sources said. The sources said Rahul was undertaking the yatra because of his “personal belief” and specifically chose to trek up the distance of 18 kms. Kedarnath, the most remote of the four Char Dham sites, is situated in the Himalayas, about 11,755 ft above sea level near Chorabari Glacier, the head of river Mandakini, and is flanked by snow-capped peaks. It bore the brunt of flash floods in June 2013 and was subsequently spruced up. Rahul, who returned here from a 57-day sabbatical last week, has got politically active, particularly in Parliament where he raised the issue of farmers and net neutrality. PTI