The question of Hindutva’s fascist character is an old one, having exercised leaders of the Congress party well before Independence. It came up again in the 1970s when Indira Gandhi flung accusations of fascism at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as it put its organized muscle into the JP movement (led by Gandhian socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan) against her rule.
