Lok Sabha leader of the Congress party Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in the lower house on Wednesday (11 March) attacked RSS founder K B Hedgewar by alleging that his teacher B S Moonjie had gone and met Mussolini - Italy’s fascist dictator.

Meenakshi Lekhi during her speech in Lok Sabha decided to respond to Chowdhury by saying that the maternal grandfather of the person sitting behind him in Lok Sabha had fought in Mussolini’s army.

“People always remember some pages of history and when you scratch someone else’s wounds, always remember that questions will also be raised against you”, added Lekhi.

This comment was largely targeted towards former Congress president Rahul Gandhi whose grandfather Stefano Manio (Sonia Gandhi’s father) has been accused of being a fascist.

As per this fact-check, it is very likely that Maino family would have been influenced by Mussolini’s Nazism. Like many staunch Catholic families in Italy, Mussolini was viewed as a person sent by God who would end the separation of church and state, restore many of the prerogatives of the church. Catholic Church and the fascist regime of Mussolini enjoyed a very close relationship.

He is also said to have fought in the Russian campaign alongside the Germans and remained true to Fascist Nationalist ideology all his life.