New Delhi, April 16
Congress vice president
Rahul Gandhi, who was out of the public eye for nearly two months,
returned on Thursday. The BJP, however, said "you just cannot shy away
from your duties".
"He (Rahul Gandhi) is back... I have no doubt
that he will be not only taking proactive measures but also with
dynamism, with commitment, provide leadership," Congress leader Anand
Sharma said.
Forty-four-year-old Rahul Gandhi, out of sight since
the budget session of parliament began on February 23, returned after
56 days amid intense speculation regarding his whereabouts. There were
different versions to his sojourn, with one version saying he was in
Myanmar, a second said Thailand and the third talking about Vietnam.
He
landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport at 10.45 a.m. on Thai
Airways flight TG 323 from Bangkok, a source at the airport authority
said.
Some party workers burst firecrackers and celebrated
outside Rahul Gandhi's 12, Tughlaq Lane where he arrived around noon.
His mother and party president Sonia Gandhi as well as his sister
Priyanka Gandhi were already present, an AICC official told IANS.
A TV channel showed photographs of Rahul Gandhi sitting in a vehicle as an SPG commando stood close by.
The BJP took a dig at him.
"There is nothing called as part time politics, it's a complete full time job," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said.
"You just cannot shy away from your duties that you have promised to deliver," he added.
After
missing from action since the budget session of parliament began on
February 23, the Congress vice president will address a kisan-mazdoor
(farmer-labour) rally here on April 19 to protest what the Congress has
described as the "anti-farmer" Narendra Modi government.
Gandhi
is also scheduled to hold meetings with party leaders as well as
farmers' leaders on Friday to discuss the contours and details of the
rally at Ramlila Ground here.
On his return, Gandhi was expected
to be elevated as the party chief at an AICC session in April, but the
session was later rescheduled until after July.
Describing him
as natural choice for party president, senior Congress legislator Rita
Bahuguna Joshi told IANS that Rahul Gandhi is a "widely accepted leader"
in the Congress who "automatically fits into the profile" of the party
chief.
"There is a huge demand in the party for him to take
over. The transition will be very smooth as he already knows the party,
its organisation and the people," Joshi said.
Joshi said that he
has returned with "more force and commitment" with an agenda to travel
across India to raise issues that are anti-people and prevent the
government from going ahead with the land acquisition bill.
Party worker Jadish Sharma told reporters that he would soon be made party chief after April 19.
Sharma
also claimed that Rahul Gandhi was in Uttarakhand during his sabbatical
and not in Bangkok as was being reported by a section of the media.
Rahul Gandhi's unexplained leave of absence prompted simmering noises within the Congress.
Former
Delhi chief minister Sheila Dixit was quoted as saying, "...(in case
of) Rahul, of course, there is a question mark, there is skepticism
because you have not seen him perform as yet."
Her remarks echoed the sentiments of a few other senior leaders who demanded Sonia Gandhi should continue as party president.
The
Congress vice president's absence assumed greater significance as he
went on a sabbatical amid intensely fluid political season due to the
land acquisition bill.
The party, however, contended that Rahul
Gandhi's absence was for his need to chart out the party's future course
in "isolation" after a series of electoral drubbings.
Fifth in a
row since the 2014 general election, the embarrassing drubbing in Delhi
early this year posed a formidable challenge for the party to reverse
its sliding fortunes ahead of the Bihar assembly polls later this year.
