Rahul Gandhi, back from his nearly two-month long sabbatical, will hold intensive consultations with farmers on Saturday as he is expected to lead the Congress’ charge on the land bill issue against the government with the Kisan rally on Sunday. The rally is being seen as some sort of a relaunch of Rahul, who is being hailed as a “mature” leader who would restore the party’s health after its downturn in Lok Sabha polls. A senior party functionary said that besides the rally, Rahul will also be speaking in the Lok Sabha and is expected to take on the government after the second part of the Budget session begins on Monday. Congress President and his mother Sonia Gandhi and sister Priyanka Gandhi, who had welcomed him at his residence yesterday, went to meet him again and spent close to two hours there. With the Sunday rally being the first major public outreach event for the Congress Vice President after his leave, the party is pulling out all stops to galvanise support for the rally. Top leaders Ahmed Patel, Digvijay Singh and others addressed a meeting of Haryana Congress leaders in North Avenue, while Singh, who is also the convener of the committee to chalk out plans for the rally, brainstromed with AICC secretaries at party headquarters to make the rally a success.
