Which of the following factors made Gandhiji a people's leader :

(A) He lived like them
(B) Spoke their language
(C) He wore simple dhoti
(D) He spent each day working on charkha
(E) He did not do manual labour

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

(A), (B), (C), (D)

The correct answer is Option (1) → (A), (B), (C), (D)

(A) He lived like them
(B) Spoke their language
(C) He wore simple dhoti
(D) He spent each day working on charkha
(E) He did not do manual labour

By 1922, Gandhiji had transformed Indian nationalism, thereby redeeming the promise he made in his BHU speech of February 1916. It was no longer a movement of professionals and intellectuals; now, hundreds of thousands of peasants, workers and artisans also participated in it. Many of them venerated Gandhiji, referring to him as their “Mahatma”. They appreciated the fact that he dressed like them, lived like them, and spoke their language. Unlike other leaders he did not stand apart from the common folk, but empathised and even identified with them. This identification was strikingly reflected in his dress: while other nationalist leaders dressed formally, wearing a Western suit or an Indian bandgala, Gandhiji went among the people in a simple dhoti or loincloth. Meanwhile, he spent part of each day working on the charkha (spinning wheel), and encouraged other nationalists to do likewise. The act of spinning allowed Gandhiji to break the boundaries that prevailed within the traditional caste system, between mental labour and manual labour.