The Patna Surrender was an event that took place during the time from 1922 to 1924 that Gandhi was in prison. A disagreement among Congress Party members over how to proceed in his absence led to a split that threatened to divide the party, and Gandhi surrendered to the opposing side in order to keep the party together, even though it meant letting go of a position which he believed was the correct one.

Some background: there were a series of council’s set up by the British that the Indians were invited to join, but which had no real governing authority. Some in the Congress party, (including Nehru) believed that cooperating with the British by joining the councils might lead to political gains, but as the invitation of the Indians to the councils was mostly for show and did not give them any meaningful participation in government, Gandhi was steadfast against joining. In the absence of Gandhi’s active leadership, the Party was threatened with destabilization and division, with some in the Congress Pary supporting Nehru’s position to join, and others (the so-called “No-Changers”) supporting a continuation of Gandhi’s policy to refuse the councils. Learning of the split from prison, Gandhi surrendered his position, thereby releasing his supporters to join with Nehru’s plan and keeping the Congress Party from collapse, though he still warned that he felt joining the councils was a poor strategic choice. Gandhi was subject to intense criticism for the compromise, as many saw it as a defeat and “selling out” of his principled position. However, Gandhi saw a higher priority in keeping the Party’s unity, and correctly understood that while his opponents were unlikely to be “pushed” into agreement with him at that particular moment (continuing the dispute was only making the disagreement more entrenched), that by stepping back he could open a space for them to be “pulled” toward his position gradually, as the situation evolved over time and their own understanding of it became clearer, which eventually did happen (ie. that they eventually saw, as he did, that the British were not offering them any concrete gains.) Of his detractors who did not understand the strategy, Gandhi said, “People see the fighter in me, but they miss my capacity to surrender, from which my power springs.”