56-day vacation over: Why aam admi paid no heed to Rahul Gandhi's return

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has finally returned from his 56-day-long sabbatical and if media reports are to be believed then the Gandhi scion visited many a places. But one wonders if it is the most awaited returns of 2015 or is it just a media hype and whether people at all missed him.

Ending days of intense speculation over his return, the 44-year-old Congress leader arrived in the national capital at 11.15 am on a Thai Airways plane from Bangkok amidst celebrations by party workers who burst crackers outside his residence.

'Only' media missed Rahul Gandhi

Ever since his unexplained departure from India in Feb, Indian media made it a big issue overnight. Debates over Rahul Gandhi running away from his responsibilities and leadership skills were questioned but all this hardly affected the common man. For a common man Rahul's absence from the political arena hardly mattered.

All through this period, only media persons were seen poking Congress leaders and asked Rahul's whereabouts. While the Congress leadership continued dodging these questions, for they had no idea about their party's poster boy. Media continued discussing about the leadership crisis in the grand old party of India and about Rahul's possible elevation to party president.

Today, media is again giving prominent importance to the Amethi MP's return. The media is showing there is happiness on the faces of party workers who were over two months living in dismay about their party's future.

Party workers are quoted as saying they now hope that a 'rejuvenated' Rahul's 'ghar wapsi' will ensure change in party's fortune. But, once again the common man seems barely interested in Rahul's return.

Is Rahul Gandhi's arrival of any good to the common man?

A pertinent question at this particular time arises whether Rahul's arrival amid so much of fanfare by Congress workers is of any good to the common man? Why Rahul's return doesn't affects the lives of the common man?

One simply wonders, when Rahul Gandhi's absence from the political arena brought no difference to the lives of the people then how is his presence going to change things.

Barring some disgruntled people from his parliamentary constituency, Amethi, where 'Rahul missing' posters were seen, no body except opposition parties cared about him. They were least interested in the Gandhi scion as they hardly found him up to the mark.

There would have been protests against Rahul's sudden disappearance and demands about his whereabouts would also have been raised. But nothing of that sort ever happened. This clearly shows that Rahul wasn't missed by the people of India, in fact it was only the media that kept enquiring about him just for TRPs sake.

Why Rahul wasn't missed at home?

Despite party's back to back losses in polls, the Gandhi scion hardly gave a thought over re-organising the Congress which was facing its worst ever crisis. Congress vice president didn't even put an end to increasing dissent within the party despite growing clamour from every quarter.

Nor, did he make any efforts to corner rival BJP and Narendra Modi on contentious issues. The Congress scion was hardly seen participating in any of debates in the 16th Lok Sabha. Hence, it is not the 'leave' but its timing which is being criticised about.

Even this year, during the crucial Budget Session he left the party in lurch and went out for a vacation. People have lost their faith in Rahul Gandhi because he has failed to make a quality change in even his own constituency Amethi. People complain that when a man who controls the reigns of country's longest serving political party why he always fails to rise to the occasion.

One just hopes that Rahul now brings a new hope and vigour to the grand old party of India which is in tattered state after series of electoral debacle.