New Delhi, Sep 4(India Today): Congress President Rahul Gandhi's Mansarovar Yatra got embroiled in a controversy, well before it began. Did Rahul Gandhi eat Chicken Kurkure in Nepal? Technically, he had not begun his yatra as he was in Nepal's Kathmandu when a waiter told local media about the dishes he relished.

Rahul Gandhi reached Kathmandu on August 31 and had his dinner at the Vootoo restaurant. Since he is a celebrity, local media wanted to know from the hotel staff what all he ate. A waiter told them Rahul Gandhi had ordered the Newari platter and especially liked the Chicken Kurkure of which he ordered a second helping.

Reports said Rahul Gandhi sat on Table No. 9 wearing jeans and a T-shirt, he came to the restaurant like any common man. Three to four people accompanied him. He even went to the counter to pay the bill.

Elated over having Rahul Gandhi as its guest, the Vootoo restaurant expressed its happiness in a post on Facebook.

Posted at 10.37 pm on August 31 along with a photograph, the Vootoo restaurant said, "Indian Congress leader Rahul Ghandi (sic) on Friday surprised visit @vootoo_foodvoutique for Newari Food."

This little chicken nugget was picked up by an Indian news channel and a controversy erupted. The ruling BJP accused the Opposition leader of hurting Hindu sentiments.

Seeing this becoming controversial, Vootoo had to retract its waiters comments. In a statement released on its Facebook page, Vootoo said: "There has been plenty of inquiry from the media regarding the food ordered by Rahul Gandhi, President of Indian National Congress during his visit at Vootoo. We would like to clarify that he ordered pure veg items from the menu. Vootoo has not given any statement to any media regarding the food items ordered by him. Thank you."

Vootoo, meanwhile, has also posted the pictures of the Newari non-vegetarian and vegetarian platters available in the restaurant.

Rahul Gandhi claims to be a Shiv bhakt like Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He had visited several temples during his campaign for the 2017 Gujarat Assembly election.

He reached Kathmandu on August 31, the day PM Modi was also there to take part in the fourth Bimstec summit.

Rahul Gandhi left for Lhasa the next day en route to Kailash Mansarovar.

Rahul Gandhi had made a vow to go on the pilgrimage during the Karnataka election campaign when he had a close shave in a possible air crash. Nothing happened but he had gone ahead to say it was Lord Shivas blessings and hence he would travel to Kailash Mansarovar to thank the lord.

Now the question is: Where exactly does the pilgrimage begin? Certainly not when one starts thinking about it. Kathmandu was a stopover for his onward journey to Lhasa, the capital of erstwhile Tibet, the part of China where Kailash Mansarovar is situated in.

Rahul Gandhi is a non-vegetarian and if he had chicken in a Kathmandu restaurant, that would have been a normal matter of choice. But then since he has been projecting himself as a Shiva-bhakt Hindu in politics, his opponents will use his gastronomical preferences as a weapon against him because he was supposedly on a pilgrimage.

In the Indian pantheon, Lord Shiva is shown as an inclusive divinity when it comes to food preferences. Unlike Vaishnav traditions, Shaivaites have no strict rules on vegetarianism and can eat meat. Not during pilgrimage, of course, but then Rahul was days away from his Mansarovar visit when he ate those two plates of Chicken Kurkure if one believed the waiter.