Gandhi possibly used the time he spent in jail to educate the followers of his weapon "ahimsa or the non-violence" and his followers were inspired by it.
Step-by-step explanation:
Mahatma Gandhi is synonymous with the imperialistic struggle that India fought for over a century. His use of tools such as civil disobedience, non-cooperation, non-violence, Satyagraha was unheard of to outsiders at large but they proved quite effective in resisting imperialistic domination.
He was jailed many times during his struggle. he effectively devoted this time to educate the jail inmates about his core conviction, his ideologies, his views on oppressed class, religious harmony etc. This enlightened the common masses and other followers who became his ardent devotee.
Government(colonising) was on its part in a fix whether to arrest Gandhi or not. it was caught in a state of "to do or not to do". if it did not arrest Gandhi he would further embolden the nationalistic struggle and if it arrests he devoted his jail time to encourage jail mates.
This unique approach to a heavy-handed oppressing nation was never heard of. The global community was inspired by this approach. His approach to winning freedom was replicated in South Africa years later by Nelson Mandela in his struggle to win freedom against racism/apartheid. Martin Luther King was also inspired by Gandhi and his approach.
For Indian masses, Gandhi symbolised their collective aspiration. Though coming from a small state of India, Gandhi symbolised for every Indian and up to his last breath worked for the betterment of India as a nation.