Which organization did Mahatma Gandhi join in 1915 after returning to India?

Mahatma Gandhi joined the Indian National Congress after returning to India in 1915.

The Indian National Congress had been founded in 1885 and became the principal political organization leading India’s struggle for independence. Gandhi’s early involvement was cautious. Following Gopal Krishna Gokhale’s advice, he spent time travelling through India and learning about local conditions rather than immediately directing a national campaign.

Gandhi later transformed the Congress into a much broader mass movement. Under his influence, it increasingly involved peasants, workers, women, merchants, and other groups outside the English-educated political elite. His campaigns of noncooperation, civil disobedience, and constructive work became central to Congress strategy.

Gandhi is sometimes described as having founded the Congress, but that is incorrect: the organization predated him by three decades. His importance lay in reshaping its methods, membership, and connection with ordinary Indians.