The Centre has finally relented to let Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot go to the United States to attend an international Rajasthani Sammelan in that country in the first week of July.

But the rider is the informal understanding that it will be a private visit and not an official trip.

Highly placed sources in the Prime Minister's Office said it was only at the intervention of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee that the visit was sanctioned.

Vajpayee is keen on avoiding any controversies since Gehlot happens to be a Congress chief minister from a state (Rajasthan) that is going to polls soon.

Fully agreeing with the grounds on which the Centre had declined to clear Gehlot's visit, Vajpayee felt the trip need not be cancelled, but should be a private one.