Can Rahul Gandhi, India's most famous political scion, get his act together?

But since he returned from a mysterious vacation in April, Gandhi, 45, has shown a new vigor some hope will re-energize his political party, which has been languishing in opposition since Prime Minister Narendra Modi catapulted to power in May 2014.

Gandhi's office has finally set up his own Twitter account. He speaks up more on the floor of Parliament and has been touring the country for town-hall-like meetings with constituents. The Indian media has dubbed his renaissance "Rahul 2.0."

Members of his Congress party are relieved that he is finally showing signs of being an active politician who can challenge Modi, the formidable leader who continues to rule the popularity polls.

"We are taking on Modi with a new aggression," said Randeep Surjewala, chief spokesman for the Congress party.

But critics ask whether the change is sustainable or just aimed at capturing short-term headlines.

Confronting Modi's policies aimed at boosting business and economic growth, Gandhi's politics have also taken a markedly leftward turn, creating a stumbling block for economic reform measures in Parliament.

Recently, Gandhi marched through the drought-stricken villages of Anantapur in scorching heat in southern India, where 66 desperate farmers committed suicide in the past year. Grieving family members lined up to tell their stories and receive relief checks from him worth about US$800 each (about RM3,000).

Students threw yellow marigold petals on the road he walked on, and women lined up on the rooftops of their homes to catch a glimpse of the politician descended from three prime ministers — a man whose family is still treated like royalty.

From the stage, Gandhi launched a blistering attack on the controversial changes that Modi has brought to make it easier for businesses to buy farm land to set up factories.

"When Modi was campaigning last year, he did not tell the country about the secret promise he had made to his rich businessmen friends. He had assured them that he would take land away from farmers and give it to businesses," said Gandhi, clad in blue jeans and a long white tunic. "So many farmers have died here. But Modi does not have time to spend with farmers, laborers and the poor of this country. He gives his time to his big businessmen friends instead."

In the past two months, Gandhi has questioned Modi's silence on irregularities by a government minister, Modi's frequent trips abroad and even his boast of a chest size of 56 inches.

"His 56-inch chest will shrink to 5.6 inches in six months," Gandhi said recently.

In Parliament, he called Modi's government a "suited-booted government," alluding to the expensive suit with his name stitched all over it that Modi wore during his meeting with US President Barack Obama in January.

"Businessmen are terrified of Rahul, of the blatant socialist angle of his rhetoric," said Suhel Seth, a New Delhi newspaper columnist. "If some people are getting impatient with Modi it is because they want the economy to grow faster. They won't take kindly to Rahul Gandhi's rhetoric and blocking reform bills."

Critics say Gandhi is out of sync with the changing reality of a nation with a rising middle class that voted out his party's government in 2014 despite the array of welfare programs it ran for nearly a decade for the rural poor.

"It is a matter of deep distress that Rahul's political articulations are still stuck in the language of the 1950s and 1960s," said Ravi Shankar Prasad, minister for communications and information technology in Modi's cabinet. "Where is the change in him? After every election failure suffered by the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi takes a vacation, which is then followed by an attempt to repackage his image. The politics of frequent repackaging cannot last in democracy."

Nobody knows for sure where Gandhi went for his mysterious and controversial break in February. Speculation swung from a mountain vacation to a meditation retreat deep in the forest. Officially, Indians were told that he was going away "to reflect on recent events and the future course of the party."

There have been numerous times in the past when Gandhi appeared poised to take on a bigger political role. But he has always stopped short. Despite constant prodding, he stubbornly refused to join his party's government during the decade from 2004-2014, when the Congress Party ruled. He would make sporadic appearances during election campaigns, promise the poor he would fight their battles, then disappear back into his fortified bubble.

Many old leaders in the party gossiped about his frequent foreign holidays and asked whether he was even interested in politics.

In 2013, he was elevated to the position of vice president of the party, but he refused to project himself as a candidate for the prime minister's job in the national elections.

"We have been pushing him to become more active for long. But he did not want to undermine the government our party was running. So he kept a low profile," said Digvijaya Singh, a senior Congress party leader. "He finally decided to become this aggressive at a time of his own choosing."

His mother, Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, is the current president of the Congress party and has struggled with health issues in recent years. In the coming weeks, some Congress stalwarts believe she may loosen her iron grip on the party, move aside and let her son finally take over in September.

One lawmaker said that Gandhi is working hard to change his standoffish image by reaching out to leaders of smaller, regional parties in the corridors of parliament or at political dinners.