Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, a Hindu nationalist organization, was originally founded in 1915 to counter the Muslim League and the secular Indian National Congress. The president of Hindu Mahasabha was V.D. Savarkar. K.B. Hedgewar, served as vice president of the organisation. Hedgewar, who became inspired by events in Europe and developments of fascism there, left the Mahasabha to form Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Soon after India's Independence, and the subsequent assassination of Gandhi, a good number of Hindu Mahasabhaites joined Bharatiya Jana Sangh under the leadership of S.P. Mukherjee, who had left Hindu Mahasabha and joined hands with the RSS to float a political party under the control and supervision of RSS. Mukherjee had left Mahasabha after his proposal to allow Muslims to gain membership was turned down by the followers of V.D. Savarkar. The relationship between Savarkar's Mahasabha and RSS was strained mainly because the then chief of RSS, M.S. Golwalkar, felt overshadowed by the influence of Savarkar over the Hindu populace. Officially Mahasabha is still a distinct political entity but its election symbol has been witheld as it has not been getting enough votes. So now the party fights elections on different symbols in different constituencies.