Rahul Gandhi to undertake Kedarnath yatra on Thursday

 Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will undertake a yatra to Kedarnath on Thursday, trekking 18 kms up into the Uttarkhand mountains to pay obeisance at the temple which faced the brunt of flash-floods two years ago and has since been spruced up.

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 on Wednesday.

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 on Tuesday and net neutrality on Wednesday.