This study has thus gone beyond the two received paradigms: (a) that organized politics of the Congress retained its elitist character throughout the period of nationalist struggle and (b) the idea that the politics of the people ran parallel to and was relatively autonomous of institutional politics. Both of these stereotypes have ignored the areas of interaction and interdependence of the two realms of political activities, especially during the phase of Gandhian nationalism. This work demonstrates that from 1919 the Congress tried to maintain its link with the people, which to a large extent contributed to an interaction between organized and unorganized politics. Gandhi's strategy of satyagraha and non-cooperation on specific issues sustained this process. However, Gandhi laid down specific conditions and boundaries within which the people were expected to act. Popular upsurges were withdrawn whenever they reached a certain momentum and began to cross this Gandhian barrier. In analysing the nature of this interaction, this book has concentrated primarily on the non-cooperation and civil disobedience movements and the periods immediately thereafter.

During the days of the non-cooperation movement, the institutional programme of the Congress was one of boycott and non-cooperation with the British educational, judicial and administrative systems. It also involved economic boycott of British commodities. To involve the masses in a year-long movement, it was necessary to resuscitate the Congress organization in Bengal and create a network through which it could reach the grass roots. The Congress organization was extended down to the village level so that the local people could be mobilized by Congress propaganda.