In a dramatic twist, the lawyer representing Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Milind Pawar, withdrew a plea from a Pune court on Thursday that had claimed the Leader of Opposition faced threats from followers of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. The withdrawal came just hours after Pawar filed the application without Gandhi’s consent, prompting the Congress leader to express strong disapproval of its contents.

The plea, filed on Wednesday, was linked to a defamation case against Gandhi by Satyaki Savarkar, V D Savarkar’s grand-nephew, over alleged remarks made by Gandhi in a March 2023 London speech. Satyaki claims Gandhi falsely stated that Savarkar wrote about beating a Muslim man and feeling happy, a claim the complainant denies ever occurred or was documented. The Pune court had previously granted Gandhi bail in the defamation case, with the trial yet to commence.

Pawar’s withdrawn application controversially alleged that Satyaki Savarkar admitted to being a direct descendant of Nathuram and Gopal Godse, principal accused in Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, through maternal lineage. It further claimed that the complainant, his ideological allies, and some Savarkar followers in power might harbor hostility toward Gandhi, citing the Congress leader’s recent accusations of electoral fraud by the Election Commission and a heated parliamentary exchange with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Hindutva. The plea raised concerns of potential harm or targeting of Gandhi due to the “violent and anti-constitutional tendencies” linked to the complainant’s lineage.

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Pawar, acknowledging his error in a press release late Wednesday, said Gandhi took “strong exception” to the plea, which was drafted without consultation. The court accepted the withdrawal, closing the chapter on the contentious application. The defamation case, however, continues to spotlight tensions between Gandhi’s political stance and Savarkar’s legacy, fueling debates over free speech, historical narratives, and political rivalries as the trial looms.

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