New Delhi, Aug 29: Congress president Rahul Gandhi will embark on Kailash Mansarovar Yatra from August 31, party sources told IANS on Wednesday. Rahul Gandhi will undertake Kailash Mansarovar Yatra for four-five days, they added. Gandhi, a devotee of Lord Shiva, had said he would embark on the pilgrimage after the Karnataka Assembly polls.

In July, the Ministry of External Affairs that it did not receive any request from Rahul Gandhi to undertake this year's Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. "We have not received any formal request for his visit to the Tibetan Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in response to a question at a media briefing.

His response came following media reports citing Congress sources which said that Gandhi, who had expressed his desire to go for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra after the Karnataka assembly elections, had not received a response to his request for special permission from the MEA. According to an MEA press release dated February 21, the last date for registration was March 23.

However, Gandhi had announced his desire to undertake the pilgrimage on April 29 at the Jan Akrosh rally at the Ramlila Maidan in the national capital. He had said that the thought struck him when he was travelling to Karnataka in a chartered aircraft that suddenly came down by 8,000 feet on April 25. Mount Kailash, located in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, is regarded as the abode of Lord Shiva by the Hindus.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 29, 2018 07:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).