Rahul Gandhi serves food to devotees at ‘bhandara’ in Kedarnath

Later in the day, he organised a ‘bhandara’ near the temple premises and served food to devotees and ash-smeared sadhus, some of whom were seen blessing him.

Young devotees clicked selfies with the Congress leader.

Gandhi arrived in Uttarakhand on Sunday and offered prayers at the Kedarnath temple. He participated in the evening ‘aarti’ at the shrine and offered tea to the pilgrims as part of ‘chai seva’.

According to PCC functionaries, the former Congress president is on a “personal” and spiritual visit, during which no party leader is allowed to meet him. However, it comes at a time when campaigning for the upcoming assembly elections in five states is at its peak. Last month, Gandhi visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar and performed ‘seva’ there too. He has undertaken the Kailash Yatra too. The BJP questioned the timing of Gandhi’s visit.

“Those who have never seen a Ramlila are applying tilak to Shri Ram and also coming to Baba’s (Kedarnath) darbar to pay obeisance. It is a result of the growing power of 100 crore sanatanis,” Uttarakhand BJP spokesperson Suresh Joshi said.

“Why is it that Rahul Gandhi is reminded of temples only when elections are around the corner or the Congress party is in some kind of trouble,” he asked.

The Kedarnath temple, situated at an altitude of 3,584 metres above sea level, is part of the Char Dhams and Panch Kedar in Uttarakhand and one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva in India.