The Rahul re-run, which in the sycophantic Congress will be akin to the second coming of RG, is no surprise. Sonia Gandhi, who took over from her son as interim Congress president, has been clear that she's just filling in for RG.
Voters may have understandably lost track of the multiple Rahul relaunches, but the Congress - at least publicly - maintains a pretense of excitement at his leadership and at the Gandhi family remaining the glue that holds the fractious party together.
A series of public rallies have been planned in the run-up to Gandhi taking over again. Today was the first, a public meeting in Jaipur (where the Congress is in power) which was marked by huge preparations including 40-feet cut-outs of Gandhi. In an extremely short speech Gandhi tactically focused on the imploding economy and the huge jobs crisis. Gandhi cited the fact that employment generation is the lowest in 46 years. He focused on the youth and mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's understanding of the economy, saying Modi does not understand the GST.
RG was pointedly silent on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which the Congress opposed in parliament and which Modi and Amit Shah, battling anti-CAA protests all over the country, want to make the centre-piece of divisive identity politics.
The Gandhi spiel today is the blue-print he is expected to follow in a series of public meetings scheduled across the country, especially in Congress-ruled states. Another rally is scheduled in Kerala later this week. Gandhi is elected to the Lok Sabha from Wayanad in the coastal state.
RG and his advisors have decided that he will stick to a strict script of bread-and-butter issues such as the economic collapse and unemployment. RG will not attempt to re-litigate the Rafale deal where he continuously alleged corruption of the Modi government through the campaign for the general election. Nor will he use his favourite slogan "chowkidar chor hai" to attack Modi. The jibe backfired big-time during last year's campaign and in fact, it's RG's earlier "suit boot ki sarkar" that resonated among the public at large. "We are fully aware of the anti-CAA protests but we don't want to give Modi and Shah even a divisive inch. Sonia Gandhi is not a memorable speaker and now RG will follow the same blue-print. No more controversies which the BJP is adept at spinning to its advantage", a senior Congress leader told me.
The plan is unlikely to cause any tremors. RG remains perceived as a fifth-generation dynast who, despite being a politician for nearly two decades, is incredibly inexperienced in administration with zero experience in government. The BJP loves pitting Gandhi against Modi in what becomes a no-contest. Also, RG is still a peripatetic leader who keeps disappearing for "me time", usually at the most inopportune moments, allowing him to be derided by the BJP as a work-shy - politician in contrast to the workaholic Modi and Shah.
I spoke to several Congress leaders for this column and the consensus is that they have no choice but to put their eggs (again) in the Gandhi basket. The Congress is now irretrievably Family First despite the fact that it is only doing well in states with strong leaders with a mass connect such as Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan and Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh.