After hectic poll campaigning, Congress president Rahul Gandhi leaves for vacation to Shimla with Priyanka Vadra

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, along with his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her children, is holidaying in Himachal Pradesh after hectic campaigning for polls in five states. “Rahul accompanied by Priyanka Vadra arrived in Shimla on Tuesday by road to see the latter's under-construction house at Chharabra,” a local Congress leader said.  Earlier, the Congress saw victory in assembly elections of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. “On their way, they stopped for a few minutes at a dhaba in Solan district and took snacks, tea and Maggi noodles there,” he said.

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Earlier, the Congress saw victory in assembly elections of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. “On their way, they stopped for a few minutes at a dhaba in Solan district and took snacks, tea and Maggi noodles there,” he said.

“When some local Congress leaders got news of Gandhi at the dhaba, they and some women reached there,” he said. The local leaders congratulated Rahul Gandhi on the party's victory in the three states. “Rahul Gandhi enquired about the political developments in Himachal Pradesh,” the Congress leader said.

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He said Gandhi told them "I am on a personal visit to Himachal." Rahul, Priyanka and her children are staying at a hotel in Chharabra, the Congress leader said.

"I have no official information about Rahul's visit to Himachal," news agency PTI quoted Congress president Sukhwinder Sukhu as saying.  

The Congress won the Assembly elections in three states of the Hindi heartland - Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan - where it was in a direct contest with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress' wins were attributed to party president  Rahul Gandhi's poll campaigning and meant the heaviest defeat for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the past four years.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi travelled to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, but much of the trip was about a meditation course in Myanmar. In March 2018, Rahul Gandhi went to see his elderly grandmother in Italy.

Rahul Gandhi also undertook the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra earlier this year. Rahul Gandhi took to microblogging website Twitter to put out a Sanskrit 'shloka' from the Upanishads and tweeted a picture of Mount Kailash along with it. 

(With PTI inputs)