Vinayak Damodar (“Veer”) Savarkar set forth the idea that Hindus constituted a nation, bound together by common blood, and that Hindus were united “by the tie of a common heritage we pay to our great civilization - our Hindu culture”. Savarkar eschewed the word “Hinduism”. As he said: “Hindutva represented the essence of the Hindu way of life. Whosoever was devoted to Hindustan, and considered it his or her holy land (punyabhoomi), was a Hindu.

Though he was a controversial figure (He was accused of murdering Gandhi by instigating N R Godse w/o himself taking up arms.), this definition of Hindutva was taken up by the BJP in its political agendas. The Supreme Court also ruled that "Ordinarily, Hindutva is understood as a way of life or a state of mind and is not to be equated with or understood as religious Hindu fundamentalism. A Hindu may embrace a non-Hindu religion without ceasing to be a Hindu and since the Hindu is disposed to think synthetically and to regard other forms of worship, strange gods and divergent doctrines as inadequate rather than wrong or objectionable, he tends to believe that the highest divine powers complement each other for the well-being of the world and mankind.

Very soon, this idea was taken up for personal gains by the BJP and its allies: The Sangh Parivar, The RSS, VHS etc. Though BJP maintained its stand on the original meaning of Hindutva, it could not stop its allies from creating a divide that resulted into the demolition of the Babri Masjid. This was only because, the BJP never strongly asserted the its viewpoint on Hindutva and used it rather for its votebank, thereby ignoring its very ideology.

Other political parties also started making use of the “term” as a weapon against the BJP saying that the latter is non-secular political party. This further led to divide the Indian community which always was under the shadow of religious and communal hatred. (Even before the independence.) After the start of the fashion of calling oneself secular by drumming the muslim tune or by taking pro-muslim stance, the Hinduism entered indian politics in a different tone (Totally ignoring the essence of Hindutva).

The Hindutva in politics can't looked at in isolation. It has to be looked at secular politics.. The politicians are treating muslims as vote banks. Surprisingly, even muslims in India don't find it insulting. The politicians treat them more as muslims and less as Indians.

Now that the mentality of Indians has totally changed regarding the term “Hindutva” thanks to the follie of VHP, RSS and above all, the BJP, Hindutva has been delimited to the word : Hindu (a so called religion). Even if we think of it, Who is a Hindu? The one who prays (to one of the thousands of deities, mother nature and its elements like the rivers, the trees etc). Is there any philosopher related to Hindu who started this religion? Is there a single religious book that teaches what and how to implement? Of course, there is Bhagvad Gita, but then what about the Vedas, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata etc etc etc. When did and Who started it. Lord Krishna dates back to 7200 BC as per archeological studies. Ram was even a century before that.