World chess champion Garry Kasparov took a veiled dig at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who has also been fielded from the Raebareli Lok Sabha seat in addition to the Wayanad constituency. The Russian Grandmaster said, "traditional dictates that you should first win from Raebareli before challenging for the top".
Kasparov's post on Friday night came as a response to a tweet in which the user said he was "so relieved" that the Russian world chess champion and Grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand "retired early and didn’t have to face the greatest chess genius of our times".
To this Kasparov responded, "Traditional dictates that you should first win from Raebareli before challenging for the top!"
He also responded to actor Ranvir Shorey's tweet in which he posted a video of Rahul Gandhi and said, "Nice one... but can you handle this move?"
To this, Kasparov said, "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!"
After weeks of suspense, Congress on Friday announced that Rahul Gandhi would also contest the Lok Sabha elections from Raebareli and for Amethi, a former party bastion, the party picked Kishori Lal Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family.
Following the announcement, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the party's move to field Rahul Gandhi from Raebareli, a Gandhi family stronghold, had "befuddled the BJP".
In a lengthy tweet, he said, "Many people have many opinions on the news of Rahul Gandhi contesting elections from Rae Bareli. Remember, he is an experienced player of politics and chess."
"The party leadership takes its decisions after much discussion, and as part of a larger strategy. This single decision has befuddled the BJP, its supporters, and its sycophants. The BJP’s self-proclaimed Chanakya, who used to talk about 'paramparagat seat' is now not sure how to respond," he added.
Just two days ago, Rahul Gandhi posted a video on Instagram, in which he likened the game of chess to politics.
In the video, the Wayanad MP recalled that he first played chess when he was seven-years-old and beat the person who taught him the rules of the game.
Rahul Gandhi also mentioned that one of his favourite chess players was Garry Kasparov as "he puts a lot of psychological pressure" on his opponents. "He's a non-linear thinker."
On similarities between chess and politics, the Congress leader said, "In chess, the idea is to make sure that you're 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, you cannot make that properly."
"In the same way, if you don't have a clear idea of what you're trying to do in politics, you don't understand the centre, it means you won't be able to operate," he added
