Which political party did Mahatma Gandhi lead during India’s independence struggle?

Mahatma Gandhi led the Indian National Congress during much of India’s independence struggle.

The Indian National Congress, founded in 1885, became the principal organization of the mass nationalist movement under Gandhi’s influence. He did not permanently serve as the party’s formal president throughout his career, but he shaped its strategy, organization, and public campaigns from the 1920s onward.

Under Gandhi, Congress increasingly relied on mass participation, non-cooperation, civil disobedience, and constructive programs such as village development and hand-spinning. Leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad worked within the wider Congress movement.

The Muslim League was a separate political organization led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and became central to the creation of Pakistan. The distinction matters because Congress represented a broad nationalist coalition, although its relationship with minority communities remained politically contested.