Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who had announced that he will undertake the Kailash-Mansarovar yatra after the Karnataka elections, has not made an official request for the same.
The Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday that it has not received any official request from the 48-year-old Gandhi stating his intention of making the journey, which undertaken by pilgrims from India to China.
“We have not received any formal request for Rahul Gandhi’s visit for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra,” said MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar in response to Congress’ allegations that the government is not allowing Gandhi to undertake the yatra.
He added that there are two ways to undertake the trip. “One was through the transparent lottery system organised by the MEA. There has been no registration made for this by the Congress chief. The other way was to privately undertake the ‘yatra’ through tour operators. For this, one has to apply for the Chinese visa and go through Nepal. In that case, we will not know,” he said.
‘’If we receive any request, we will act on it,’’ the spokesperson added.
According to reports, Gandhi applied under special permission, usually given to MPs, after he was unable to apply for the Yatra during the period of application.
Gandhi had in April this year declared that he will journey all the way to the holy site located in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) after a mid-air scare in which his chartered aircraft suddenly descended by 8,000 feet due to a technical snag.
“I was in the aircraft…I thought it was the end. Then, a second thought came to my mind – I want to visit Kailash.
“I want to go to Kailash Mansarovar. So, I would seek 10-15 days of leave from you after the Karnataka elections so that I can go there and come back,” he said.
The Kailash Mansarovar tour is organised by the MEA in cooperation with the government of People’s Republic of China each year between June and September.