Former President of Congress party and its current ideologue, Rahul Gandhi officially deserted the family ‘bastion’, Amethi, on 3rd May 2024 to file nominations from Raebareli, a perceived safer seat for the Gandhi scion in the background of 2019 defeat at the hands of BJP leader Smriti Irani in Amethi. While the BJP has cornered the Congress leader with his “Daro Mat” catchphrase, the grand old party in a flurry of tweets described it as a “Masterstroke” and a deft “Chess move”.
A smarter political move has not been witnessed in recent times. A hundred Modis can’t match the political deftness of the Gandhis. #KaunSmriti ?
— Pawan Khera 🇮🇳 (@Pawankhera) May 3, 2024
Pertinent to note, this comes amid Rahul Gandhi’s recent re-launch, for the umpteenth time, as a Chess ‘Grandmaster’. However, this is not the first time the Gandhi scion has “come of age” as a sporting icon, an athletic politician, and a ‘Youth leader’.
Incidentally, the grand old party led by Rahul Gandhi had a strike rate of around 12% and 8% in direct fights against the BJP in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections respectively, exposing the political inefficiency of Rahul, the current Congress ‘ideologue’. Similarly, apart from a few victories of regional Satraps within the grand old party, Congress under Rahul Gandhi has displayed no signs of stabilisation, let alone resurgence.
Consequently, the Congress party has been forced to recurrently devise newer plans and re-branding efforts to relaunch Rahul Gandhi that can be aptly summed with the tagline, ‘leader wahi, khel/Avatar nayi‘ (Translation – Same leader in a different game/Avatar).
Rahul Gandhi: The Chess Genius
Recently, Congress party released a short video in which Rahul Gandhi featured as a ‘Chess genius’. He claimed that he defeated his tutor in his first attempt while learning the basic skills of the game at the young age of 7.
Lauding the foresight of Rahul Gandhi, Congress wrote, “Strategy, patience & foresight! (pawn emoji) Just like in chess, Shri @RahulGandhi stays ahead of the game, always thinking several moves ahead!”
Strategy, patience & foresight! ♟️
— Congress (@INCIndia) May 1, 2024
Just like in chess, Shri @RahulGandhi stays ahead of the game, always thinking several moves ahead! pic.twitter.com/5TMujizPw7
In the video released by Congress party, Rahul Gandhi said, “You know, the first time I played chess was when I was seven years old. This person taught me chess, they just taught me the rules, and then I played the game with them. And then the first time I played, I beat them. And they got really angry with me because I beat them.”
According to Rahul Gandhi, “an expert player in the game” can turn the opponent’s most powerful piece to start working for him. Ironically, this sounds akin to the ‘conspiracy theory‘ that the senior-most Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi, is the biggest campaigner/asset for his rival party, the BJP.
Replying to the query, ‘What do you like about Chess?’, the Congress leader added, “One of the most interesting things about Chess is once you start to get slightly better at it the opponent pieces actually operate almost like your own. So you don’t just look at your pieces you look at the opponent’s pieces, your pieces, and the board and then very often, it can be the opponent’s piece that is very powerful piece for the opponent is actually working for you.”
Further in the video, Rahul Gandhi explained the similarities between Chess and Politics asserting that the most important skill in both these traits is to “control the centre”. He explained, “In chess, the idea is make sure that you are controlling the centre, and you can apply pressure on the centre from the sides in different ways. But if you don’t understand the centre and you don’t have a view on the centre, you cannot make that properly. In the same way, if you don’t have a clear idea of what you are trying to do in politics, you don’t understand the centre, and it means you won’t be able to operate.”
Strategy, patience & foresight! ♟️
— Congress (@INCIndia) May 1, 2024
Just like in chess, Shri @RahulGandhi stays ahead of the game, always thinking several moves ahead! pic.twitter.com/5TMujizPw7
Rahul Gandhi listed French Defense, Sicilian Dragon, and King’s Indian as his favourite openings and boasted himself as the Best Chess player among Indian politicians.
Further, Rahul Gandhi mentioned Russian Grandmaster Garry Kasparov as his favourite player adding that he puts a lot of psychological pressure on the opponents and is a nonlinear thinker. Incidentally, his favourite player retorted by taking a hilarious dig at the Congress leader.
Notably, an X user shared a sarcastic post about Rahul Gandhi’s chess prowess arguing that he felt relieved for Grandmasters and World Champions Viswanathan Anand and Garry Kasparov that they didn’t have to face Rahul Gandhi, the “greatest chess genius of our time”. Responding to the post, Kasparov took a veiled pot shots at Rahul Gandhi by advicing him to focus on winning Raebareli seat before venturing or challenging greats in other games.
Kasparov wrote, “Traditional dictates that you should first win from Raebareli before challenging for the top!” followed with a laughter emoji.
Traditional dictates that you should first win from Raebareli before challenging for the top! 😂
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) May 3, 2024
While replying to a few more posts by Indian X users, Kasparov went on to describe Rahul Gandhi’s latest avatar of a ‘pro’ in Chess as some sort of superficial or casual act terming it as “dabbling”. Kasparov argued that while he may not have expertise in Indian politics, he can’t fail to see a politician “dabbling” in his beloved game.
Quoting a post by Ranvir Shorey, he replied, “I very much hope my little joke does not pass for advocacy or expertise in Indian politics! But as an ‘all-seeing monster with 1000 eyes,’ as I was once described, I cannot fail to see a politician dabbling in my beloved game!”
I very much hope my little joke does not pass for advocacy or expertise in Indian politics! But as an "all-seeing monster with 1000 eyes," as I was once described, I cannot fail to see a politician dabbling in my beloved game! https://t.co/MlBnR4PeZ6
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) May 3, 2024
I very much hope my little joke does not pass for advocacy or expertise in Indian politics! But as an "all-seeing monster with 1000 eyes," as I was once described, I cannot fail to see a politician dabbling in my beloved game!
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) May 3, 2024
The light-hearted banter sparked a frenzy among netizens, prompting them to troll Rahul Gandhi by crafting a Game of Thrones-style introduction reminiscent of that used for Daenerys Targaryen played by Emilia Clarke.
I can’t stop my tears 😭.
— Rupa Murthy (@rupamurthy1) May 3, 2024
Russian Chess Grandmaster and former World Chess Champion, is trolling our resident Chess Champion/Martial Arts Expert/Hockey Player/Wrestler and leader @RahulGandhi , mercilessly.
Kasparov doesn’t know Rahul Gandhi ji is a National shooting champion… pic.twitter.com/K8KrqlY7Ic
International humiliation of Rahul Gandhi 🤣
— STAR Boy TARUN (@Starboy2079) May 3, 2024
Chess Grand master Garry Kasparov on Rahul Gandhi 👇 pic.twitter.com/54NksQAbqz
Did Congress give Political ‘Nob’ a Sports makeover?
While, his favourite chess player, Garry Kasparov, soiled Rahul Gandhi’s efforts by calling his Chess video a “dabbling” move, the grand old party had earlier exploited his pass time activities to present him as a Sporting legend. They have flaunted these Sporting skills of Rahul Gandhi in furtherance of their efforts to rebrand and catapult him as a “political leader” and relinquish the image of Pappu (De-Pappufication of the Congress leader).
Strikingly, resembling Gurmeet Ram Raheem’s boastful description about himself, Rahul Gandhi had once introduced himself as a Sports enthusiast and a ‘pro’ in several sporting fieds.
In 2017, Rahul Gandhi had boasted, “I exercise, run, swim & also hold a black belt in Aikido but I never speak of these in public. Sports is important in my life.”
I exercise, run, swim & also hold a black belt in Aikido but I never speak of these in public. Sports is important in my life: Rahul Gandhi pic.twitter.com/UvZqNjQ8df
— ANI (@ANI) October 26, 2017
In the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress leader flaunted his skills in martial arts. On several occasions, he highlighted that he is a ‘black belt’ in Aikido, a Japanese martial art form.
In 1989,National Rifle Association Of India Certified Rahul Gandhi is Position Holder in 25 Mtr.Centre Fire Pistol @ National Shooting Champ pic.twitter.com/BvwbDnudQx
— 𝐒𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐡 𝐑𝐚𝐢 | सौरभ राय 🇮🇳 (@SaurabhRaii_) October 26, 2017
Until now, Congress has only revealed that Rahul Gandhi is a black belt in Aikido, a national shooting champion, trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu martial art, sword fighting, and an excellent swimmer, among many other secret hidden sporting talents. Additionally, the Congress leader is a trained Pilot and had also learnt the traits of ‘Boxing’.
#WATCH: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi doing push-ups and 'Aikido' with students of St. Joseph's Matriculation Hr. Sec. School in Mulagumoodubn, Tamil Nadu pic.twitter.com/qbc8OzI1HE
— ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2021
Aikido, push-ups, dancing… Rahul Gandhi has a new avatar and the internet is here for it. 💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/UkwTEhg35l
— Brut India (@BrutIndia) March 2, 2021
While the Congress hoped to use his sports skills to boost his political image nationally, it only fueled critics’ claims that he could excel anywhere but in politics.
Rahul Gandhi has abs, good swiming skills, dimples, and a black belt in Aikido. Sab kuch hai bhai ke paas except one thing needed to become a politician – Dimag.
— IAS Smoking Skills (@Smokingskills07) February 26, 2021
All these efforts have faced harsh criticism due to the Congress leader’s dismal performance in electoral politics. In the vein of Game of Thrones, while Congress may wish to introduce him akin to how her courtiers introduced Daenerys Targaryen, in the political realm, he has turned out to be more like Jon Snow who knows nothing about ‘electoral success’ and the domain of his choosing.
