56 days of vanvaas to Sonia waiting with aarti: Twitter reacts to #RahulReturns

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday returned home from his 56-day unexplained sabbatical which had raised questions over his leadership of the party that is struggling to find its feet after a string of electoral defeats. The 44-year-old leader arrived here at 11.15 AM on a Thai Airways plane from Bangkok, ending days of intense speculation over his return and amidst celebrations by party workers who burst crackers outside his residence. [caption id=“attachment_1695877” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. PTI[/caption] Wearing a dark shirt and seated in the back seat of his vehicle, he arrived escorted by his security personnel and drove straight into the house without interacting with the waiting mediapersons. The return of Rahul comes ahead of the party’s planned farmers’ rally here on the contentious Land Bill issue which he is likely to address. The plane, which was scheduled to land at 10.35 AM, was delayed by 40 minutes, sources said. Shortly later, Rahul drove to his 12, Tughlaq Lane residence where his mother and Congress President Sonia Gandhi and sister Priyanka were waiting. Rahul had left quietly before the Budget session began on February 23 but it is still not known where he had spent the days. The party had then said that he “requested Congress President Sonia Gandhi for some time to reflect on recent events and future course of the party”. Moments after news of his return his India, Twitter responded and #RahulReturns overtook #ModiInCanada as the top trending topic on Twitter. Here are a look at some of the tweets. (With PTI inputs)