Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has reignited a political and historical debate by claiming that Satyaki Savarkar, grandnephew of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, is also maternally related to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin, Nathuram Godse.

Gandhi made the statement in an affidavit submitted to a Pune court, where he is facing a defamation case filed by Satyaki Savarkar.

In his affidavit, Gandhi alleged that Satyaki Savarkar withheld material facts from the court by not disclosing his maternal lineage. He claimed that Satyaki's mother, Himani Ashok Savarkar, was the daughter of Gopal Godse - Nathuram Godse's younger brother and a co-conspirator in the Gandhi assassination case. Himani Savarkar, who passed away in 2015, was also known for her affiliation with Hindutva activism and was married into the Savarkar family.

According to Gandhi, concealing this relationship constitutes a deliberate attempt to mislead the court. "If a party does not come to the court with clean hands, they are not entitled to be heard or granted any relief," the affidavit stated. He further argued that suppression of material facts amounts to fraud on the court and warrants dismissal of the complaint.

The affidavit also reminded the court that Vinayak Savarkar, though acquitted in the Gandhi murder case, was initially named a co-accused. "The Savarkar and Godse families share a blood relation, and that historical background holds relevance to the public standing and image of both families," the Congress leader said.

The legal battle stems from a 2023 speech Rahul Gandhi gave in London, in which he allegedly claimed that Savarkar once boasted in a book about beating up a Muslim man. Satyaki Savarkar filed the complaint arguing that no such incident was ever mentioned by Savarkar, and accused Gandhi of making false, fictitious, and defamatory claims.