Question

Examine the factors that led to the transformation of Gandhi into a mass leader.

Answer 1

• Gandhi was a person dedicated to the cause of the poorest of the poor instantly gained the goodwill of the masses.
• He visited Champaran (Bihar) for the cause of getting the solution for the peasants and the people suffering under the exploitation of indigo planters.
• On reaching Champaran he was asked by the police to return back but he refused.
• He was summoned for trial.
• The news spread like wildfire and people in thousands swarmed the place in support of Gandhi.
• Eventually, a committee was formed with Gandhi as a member that recommended the abolition of the “tinkathia system”. Thus ending the oppression of the peasants by the Indigo planters.
• His fruitful intervention in the Ahmadabad mill strike and kheda Satyagraha helped Gandhi to establish himself as a leader of mass struggle.
• His ability to mobilize the common people across the country through truth and Non- violence transformed Gandhi into a mass leader.

Answer 2

The factors that led to the transformation of Gandhiji into a mass leader are given below:

1. Mahatma Gandhi arrived in India in 1915 from South Africa after fighting for the civil rights of the Indians therefore about twenty years. He brought with him a new impulse to Indian politics.
2. He introduced a new instrument Satyagraha, which he had perfected in South Africa, that could be practiced by men and women, young and old. As a person dedicated to the cause of the poorest of the poor, he instantly gained the goodwill of the masses.
3. Unlike the constitutionalists who appealed to the British sense of justice and the militants who confronted the repression of the colonial state violently, Gandhiji adopted non-violent methods to mobilize the masses and mount pressure on the British.
4. His Champaran Satyagraha of 1916 earned immense success. This followed by his fruitful intervention in the Ahmedabad mill strike and the Kheda Satyagraha in 1918. These factors helped Gandhiji establish itself as a leader of mass struggle.
5. The people from across the country began to support him whole-heartedly. They found in him all the qualities of a mass leader. So, they loved him and were ready to do what he said. They showed immense faith in him because they were sure Gandhiji would bring freedom for them.