India, May 9 -- Rahul Gandhi posted a short video clip on his X handle on Friday evening with a mega claim that seemed to address many battles at once.

It came at the peak of seismic political activity in Tamil Nadu in the South, while elections are due in the main northern state of Uttar Pradesh in 10 months. And the national contest looks tougher than ever with Narendra Modi's regime freshly bolstered after winning Bengal.

"Likh kar le lo," take it in writing, said the Congress leader in his X post in Hindi, "No other party can defeat the BJP and Narendra Modi. Only the Congress can."

Around the same time, actor-turned-politician C Joseph Vijay walked into the Lok Bhavan in Chennai, armed with letters of support from the Congress and...