Protest Pic Viral: Rahul Gandhi Helps Mallikarjun Kharge With "Batman" Mask

A hand, covered in sacred threads, emerged from the crowd, holding aloft a mask of fictional superhero Batman. The man, wearing a Congress flag around his neck, his hair falling over his forehead, kept marching on with the mask held high up as people around him kept chanting Rahul Gandhi's name. 

He was surrounded by Indian Youth Congress (IYC), the youth wing of the Congress, who were marching to the Supreme Court against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral malpractices.

The mask finally reached Rahul Gandhi.

"Batman Mode: On. Gyaneshh toh giyooo (Gyanesh is gone)," the National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the official student wing of the Congress, posted on X, showing Rahul Gandhi posing with the mask.  

In another image, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge was seen trying on the Batman mask, with Rahul Gandhi helping him.

Kharge, in another image, is seen sitting with the Batman mask on.

M Kharge spotted with the Batman mask during INDIA bloc protest rally
Photo Credit: PTI

The superhero leitmotif runs through Congress' larger narrative around Rahul Gandhi, the 56-year-old Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. 

In August, during an Instagram "Ask Me Anything Session, Rahul Gandhi was asked if he was Batman.

"Let's just say that no one has ever seen me and Batman in the same room together!" Gandhi had quipped then. 

During a protest march to the Election Commission last week, Rahul Gandhi, blocked by Delhi police's metal barricades, climbed atop them, and surveyed the scene with his arms akimbo. 

The Congress contrasted Rahul Gandhi's image on top of barricades with Batman on its Instagram, telegraphing the message that he too is a superhero.

Earlier, posters depicting Gandhi as the "real-life Batman" were put up near the Congress headquarters at Indira Bhawan and in parts of Central Delhi, proclaiming: "The Silent Guardian. A watchful protector. The Real Life Batman".