How did Mahatma Gandhi become a leader of the Indian National Congress?

Mahatma Gandhi’s rise to leadership within the Indian National Congress was driven by his transition from a peripheral figure to a transformative national leader through his philosophy of satyagraha and nonviolent resistance.12

After returning to India in 1915, Gandhi initially avoided political agitation. However, his perspective shifted following the 1919 Rowlatt Act and the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, which fueled widespread national anger. By aligning with the Khilafat movement and launching the noncooperation movement in 1920, Gandhi refashioned the Congress from an elite, urban-focused organization into a mass movement with deep roots in India's villages.213

His ability to mobilize the public and his commitment to nonviolent civil disobedience established him as the de facto leader of the independence struggle. Following his release from prison in 1924, he worked to address internal party divisions and communal tensions. In December 1924, he was formally named president of the Congress Party, serving in that capacity for one year.31