Rahul Gandhi's Batman joke gets a sequel as Congress casts him as caped crusader

Congress has turned Rahul Gandhi's playful Batman joke into a 13-second Instagram reel, portraying him as Gotham's caped crusader by juxtaposing footage of him atop barricades during yesterday's protest with Batman overlooking a dark cityscape.The reel opens with the Congress leader standing atop a row of yellow police barricades. (Photo: AP)New Delhi,Oct 7, 2026 08:44 ISTMonths after Rahul Gandhi joked that no one had ever seen him and Batman in the same room, the Congress appears to have taken the comparison a little more seriously.The party’s social media team on Wednesday shared a 13-second Instagram reel featuring visuals from Tuesday’s Opposition march from Parliament to the Election Commission office, portraying Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi as Gotham’s caped crusader and drawing a playful parallel with Batman.The reel opens with the Congress leader standing atop a row of yellow police barricades. Dressed in his usual white polo shirt and khaki pants, he is surrounded by a crowd of supporters, who cheer and push against the barricades in the commotion.The scene then cuts to Batman standing atop a dark skyscraper, looking out into the night. The reel repeatedly switches between the two visuals, leaving little doubt about the message: Gotham has its Dark Knight, and the Opposition has its own.The post comes nearly two months after Gandhi was asked during an Instagram "Ask Me Anything" session whether he was Batman. His response at the time was brief and playful. "Let's just say that no one has ever seen me and Batman in the same room together."The Congress has now given that joke a visual sequel. This is not the first time Gandhi has been compared to the fictional vigilante.In August, posters describing him as "the real-life Batman" appeared near the Congress headquarters at Indira Bhawan and in parts of central Delhi.The posters, put up by a party functionary, featured Gandhi alongside Batman and carried the captions "The Silent Guardian" and "A Watchful Protector".But the Batman reel was not the only Gandhi-related video that grabbed attention online. Videos showing him and his sister Priyanka Gandhi being detained by police also circulated widely online, offering a far more dramatic contrast to the playful social media post.In one video, Gandhi is seen attempting to climb out of a bus window as police personnel try to push him back inside. In another, Priyanka is seen climbing a gate at Kingsway Camp after being detained along with other Congress MPs.The detentions came after Opposition leaders staged a sit-in near the Election Commission office, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.The protest, held at Akashwani Bhawan, was organised by the INDIA bloc over what Opposition leaders described as "unilateral" decisions by Kumar and alleged "irregularities" in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls. A large number of Opposition leaders and party workers participated in the protest.Delhi Police detained Gandhi and other leaders at around 8 pm on Tuesday. Gandhi and Priyanka were taken to Kingsway Camp Police Station in north Delhi and were released late at night.- Ends