Indian Nation congress (INC) in its initial high profile character was never able to reach the masses. It prior to Gandhiji was an organisation mainly working for the interests of the capitalists. INC relied mostly on constitution reforms. It was supported by most industrialists as it was basically working for their ends. But this approach itself had many demerits accompanying it. Common man who was busy in fulfilling his subsistence needs was far from empathizing with such high-sounding measures.

It was the impact of Gandhiji which brought INC closer to the masses. Under the leadership of Gandhiji poor as well as women joined the movement in large number. It is said that Gandhiji feminized the whole movement because simple but powerful tool of ‘satyagrah’ did not demand much knowledge of legislature, it did not expect the masses to take up open armed rebellion against the state, neither did it required individual heroic acts of outstanding nationalists like Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekhar Azad. Gandhiji believed in simplicity and that reflected in his approach. He brought the movement closer to the heart of the people. Subjective perception of the objective reality (India was enslaved) engulfed the whole of India. Even during the periods of stagnation Gandhiji worked towards cadre strengthening of congress and nation building activities.

Thus the measures adopted by Gandhiji were largely endogenous in nature and wanted to change the society from within. The process was slow but brought about consciousness and homogeneity in the national struggle.

After independence India under Jawaharlal Nehru deviated from Gandhian values and   took up the westernized model of growth where capitalism was practiced under the name of socialism. Nehru was a true nationalist no doubt, but his elite background had made his policies ill-suited for India of those days and largely ignored the majority. His policies of rapid economic development without an inclusive model of growth made the development process haphazard, the price of which we are still facing in the form of vast socio-economic divide and red-corridor movement of the Maoists. More than 70 % of India lived in the villages but Nehru neglected the development of villages. Apart from the First five year plan which focused mainly on agriculture( but did not achieve much in that due to lack of land reforms) all other plans targeted on a lopsided industrial growth.

India needed sustainable growth along with carrying forward the nationalist feelings which promoted integrity and emphasized national-interest above self-interest. But due to the exogenous model Indian national movement lost momentum and was replace by individualism, nepotism and corruption. Had India continued with Gandhian policies of nation building, then although the time taken could have been longer but ultimately we would have achieved much more stable and inclusive growth than we experience today.

“Slow and steady wins the race” and this Nehru ignored in his policies.