P L RAJ IAS & IPS ACADEMY - AN INSTITUTION FOR IAS, IPS AND TNPSC EXAMINATION

INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS - MODERN HISTORY

News: On Congress Foundation Day, a brief history of the INC

What's in the news?

● The Indian National Congress (INC), India’s largest opposition party, marked its 138th foundation day on December 28.

● Several party members shared messages from the party’s social media accounts, featuring videos and photos of its history, invoking the party’s role in the Indian freedom struggle and role in independent India.

Indian National Congress (INC):

● The Indian National Congress (INC), founded on 28 December 1885 by A.O. Hume, along with Dadabahi Naorji and Dinshaw Edulji Wacha at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Bombay.

○ The first session of the Indian National Union was initially supposed to be in Ponna, but it did not hold due to the outbreak of Cholera in Poona.

○ However, on getting an invitation from Badruddin Tyabji (the leader of Anjuman-l-Islam of Bombay), the session moved from Poona to Bombay.

● The first session of INC was presided by Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee and attended by 72 delegates from all over the country.

● It was the Indian National Union that assumed the name Indian National Congress at the conference held in Bombay in December 1885.

● It was Dadabhai Naoraji who coined the term Indian National Congress. At the suggestion of Dadabhai Naoroji, the Indian Nation Union was renamed as Indian National Congress.

● Its objective was often described as providing a “safety valve”, through which Indians could air out their grievances and frustration.

Major Objectives of the Indian National Congress (INC):

1. A Pan India Organization: To establish a democratic, nationalist movement through the formation of a pan India organization.

2. Anti-colonialism: Promote amicable ties among nationalist political activists from diverse sections of the country by developing and propagating an anti-colonial nationalist ideology.

3. Inculcating Nationalism: Develop and consolidate a sense of national unity among all people, regardless of religion, caste, or province.

4. Politicize & politically educate people: Congress wanted to raise awareness of colonial exploitative policies and Indian political rights - to that purpose, Congress pushed for more Indian representation in councils, as well as the Indianization of the civil service.

5. Forward-looking political and economic programme: Formulate and propose public demands to the government in order to bring the people together around a shared economic and political agenda.

Important Congress Session and it's Presidents:

Congress Session	President	Importance
1885 - Bombay	W.C.Bannerjee	Formation of Indian National Congress
1886 - Calcutta	Dadabhai Naoroji	Presidentship of Grand Old Man of India
1887 - Madras	Syed Badruddin Tyabji	First Muslim President
1888 - Allahabad	George Yule	First English President
1896 - Calcutta	Rahimtullah Sayani	National Song ‘Vande Mataram’ sung for the first time by Rabindranath Tagore
1901 - Calcutta	Dinshaw E.Wacha	First time Gandhiji appeared on the Congress platform
1905 - Benares	Gopal Krishan Gokhale	Formal proclamation of Swadeshi movement against government
1906 - Calcutta	Dadabhai Naoroji	Adopted four resolutions on: Swaraj (Self Government), Boycott Movement, Swadeshi, National Education
1907 - Surat	Rash Bihari Ghosh	Split in Congress- Moderates & Extremist. Adjournment of Session
1916 - Lucknow	A.C.Majumdar	Unity between two factions-Moderates and Extremists of Congress. Lucknow Pact signed between Congress and Muslim League to build political consensus.
1917 - Calcutta	Annie Besant	First Woman President of Congress
1920 - Nagpur	C. Vijayaraghavachariar	Reconstitution of Working committees of Congress on Linguistic basis. MA Jinnah left the Indian National Congress.
1922 - Gaya	C.R.Das	CR Das and other leaders broke away from INC. Formation of Swaraj Party.
1924 - Belgaum	Mahatma Gandhi	Only Session presided over by Mahatma Gandhi
1925 - Kanpur	Sarojini Naidu	First Indian Woman President
1927 - Madras	M.A.Ansari	Passed a resolution against the use of Indian troops in China, Iran and Mesopotamia. Passed a resolution against the boycott of the Simon Commission. Adoption of resolution on Purna Swaraj
1928 - Calcutta	Motilal Nehru	Formation of All India Youth Congress
1929 - Lahore	Jawaharlal Nehru	Passed the resolution on ‘Poorna Swaraj.’ Civil Disobedience movement for complete independence to be launched. 26 January to be observed as ‘Independence Day’.
1931 - Karachi	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel	Resolutions on Fundamental Rights and National Economic Programme. Endorsement of Gandhi-Irwin pact. Gandhi nominated to represent INC in the Second Round Table Conference to be held in London.
1936 - Lucknow	Jawaharlal Nehru	Push towards socialist ideas by Jawahar Lal Nehru.
1937 - Faizpur	Jawaharlal Nehru	First Session to be held in a village
1938 - Haripura	Subash Chandra Bose	National Planning Committee set up under Jawahar Lal Nehru.
1939 - Tripuri	Rajendra Prasad	Subhas Chandra Bose was re-elected but had to resign. Rajendra Prasad was appointed in his place. Subhash Chandra Bose formed Forward Bloc.
1940 - Ramgarh	Abul Kalam Azad	Civil Disobedience movement to be launched at appropriate time and circumstances.
1946 - Meerut	J.B.Kriplani	Last session before independence. J.B.Kriplani was the president of INC at independence.