Mahatma Gandhi Political Analysis

3. Politics and Gandhi

Unlike Gandhi’s personal life which remains largely speculated, his political life was always open for criticism. Gandhi returned to Indian soil in 1915, and started his political career by joining Indian National Congress, and working under the guidance of Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Gandhi’s political ideas became immensely popular with the Indian population. Starting with the uprising in Champaran and Kheda, Noncooperation movement against the British regime or the famous Salt March from Dandi , Gandhi dedicated his life to the people of his country.

In a long political career, Gandhi’s opinions were seldom negated. He was the most important politician in the country, and his opinions matter the most. Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Bhim Rao Ambedkar were Gandhi’s political contemporaries and they believed that Gandhi’s ideologies were accepted by people irrespective of their consequences, and it often negated the minor sections of the Indian society from participation. Jinnah was the leader for All-India Muslim League, he voiced the interests of many Muslims in the country. Even though Gandhi

Roderick Matthews in his book Jinnah vs. Gandhi writes, “The whole incident was not a clash of titans, but a commonplace outing in polite society. Reading manipulative psychology, power politics and the destiny of nation into the affair is uncalled for (...) recognition that they were ‘natural enemies’ (...) How calling attention to Jinnah’s religion would have helped Gandhi is not clear, nor is it obvious why Gandhi would think it worth any effort to point out to an audience of Bombayites that a man names Mohammed Ali, who was a prominent member of the Muslim League, was a Muslim”. (Matthews,