Known as Lokamanya (revered by the people), he owned and edited Kesari (Lion), a weekly Marathi nationalist paper. He was imprisoned for sedition by the British (1897). Released in 1899, he continued to advocate radical policies within Congress, playing an important role in the radical/moderate split of 1907. In 1914 with Annie Besant he formed the Indian Home Rule League, but subsequently advocated more moderate, cooperative policies with Muslims in the Lucknow Pact (1916), which recognized separate electorates for Muslim minorities.