Mahatma Gandhi transformed the nature of the national movement in several significant ways.

By 1922, Gandhiji had transformed Indian nationalism from a movement of professionals and intellectuals into a mass movement where hundreds of thousands of peasants, workers and artisans actively participated. This was a fundamental shift in the character of the freedom struggle.

His mass appeal was genuine and without precedent in Indian politics. He identified with the common people by dressing like them in a simple dhoti or loincloth, living like them, and speaking their language. Unlike other nationalist leaders who dressed formally in Western suits or Indian bandgalas, Gandhiji did not stand apart from the common folk but empathised and identified with them.

His success in broadening the basis of nationalism was based on careful organisation. New branches of the Congress were set up in various parts of India, and a series of "Praja Mandals" were established to promote the nationalist creed in the princely states. He encouraged communication of the nationalist message in the mother tongue rather than English, and provincial committees of the Congress were based on linguistic regions rather than artificial British boundaries.

Gandhiji also worked to break social barriers. He spent part of each day working on the charkha (spinning wheel) and encouraged other nationalists to do likewise. This act of spinning allowed him to break the boundaries within the traditional caste system between mental labour and manual labour.

The growth of "Gandhian nationalism" depended substantially on his followers. Between 1917 and 1922, talented individuals from different regions and religious traditions attached themselves to Gandhiji, inspiring countless other Indians to join the Congress. In these different ways, nationalism was taken to the farthest corners of the country and embraced by social groups previously untouched by it.