Editing Gopal Krishna Gokhale (section)

==Involvement with British Imperial Government==
[[File:Gopal Krishna Gokhale 1966 stamp of India.jpg|thumb|Gokhale on a 1966 stamp of India]]
Gokhale, though now widely viewed as a leader of the Indian nationalist movement, was not primarily concerned with independence but rather with social reforms; he believed such reforms would be best achieved by working within existing British government institutions, a position which earned him the enmity of more aggressive nationalists such as Tilak. Undeterred by such opposition, Gokhale would work directly with the British throughout his political career to further his reform goals.

In 1899, Gokhale was elected to the [[Bombay Legislative Council]]. He was elected to the [[Indian Councils Act 1892|Imperial Council]] of the [[Governor-General of India]] on 20 December 1901,<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7" /><ref>{{cite book|author=Nanda, Bal Ram |title=Gokhale: The Indian Moderates and the British Raj|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pI19BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA133|date=8 March 2015|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-7049-3|page=133}}</ref> and again on 22 May 1903 as non-officiating member representing [[Bombay Province]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1">Talwalkar, Govind (2015) ''Gopal Krishna Gokhale:Gandhi's Political Guru'', Pentagon Press. p. 22. {{ISBN|818274833X}}</ref><ref name=":7" /><ref>{{cite book |title= India List and India Office List for 1905 |publisher=Harrison and Sons, London |year=1905 |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_3VQTAAAAYAAJ|page= [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_3VQTAAAAYAAJ/page/n243 213] }}</ref>

The empirical knowledge coupled with the experience of the representative institutions made Gokhale an outstanding political leader, moderate in ideology and advocacy, a model for the people's representatives.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":7" /> His contribution was monumental in shaping the Indian freedom struggle into a quest for building an open society and egalitarian nation.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":7" /> Gokhale's achievement must be studied in the context of predominant ideologies and social, economic and political situation at that time, particularly in reference to the famines, revenue policies, wars, partition of Bengal, Muslim League and the split in the Congress at Surat.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":7" />