Indian National Congress

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INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (INC)

ORIGIN OF THE INDIAN NATIONAL Political Associations Before the Indian

CONGRESS National Congress
Before the inception of the Indian National Congress,
Congress Ideology at its Inception
there existed other small political platforms for the
Indians. These organizations limited their focus to
At its inception, the Congress had no well-defined
safeguard the interest of a particular class or group.
ideology and commanded few of the resources The Indian Association set up by Surendranath
essential for a political organization. It functioned Banerjee was probably the most active, among the
more as a debating society that met annually to express earlier political associations. The focus of the Indian
its loyalty to the Raj and passed numerous resolutions Association was to create mass awakening among the
on less controversial issues such as civil rights or Indians and to create a strong public opinion in the
opportunities in the government, especially the civil country on the issues of national importance.
Gradually, these organizations united the Indians on a
services. These resolutions were submitted to the
common political platform and gradually, the masses
viceroy’s government and, occasionally, to the British became critical of the British policies. Some major
Parliament, but the Congress’s early gains were political associations that existed before the emergence
meagre. Despite its claim to represent all of India, the of the Indian National Congress were:
Congress voiced the interests of the urban elite; the
number of participants from other economic  British Indian Association (1851)
operated in Chennai, Bengal and Mumbai. It
backgrounds remained negligible. According to A. O.
looked after the interests of the landlords.
Hume, the aims of the Congress were (i) to make
British Rule long-lasting in India; (ii) to make Indians  East India Association (1866) was set
satisfied and proud citizens of the British Empire; and up by Dadabhai Naroji in London. It aimed
(iii) to function as the opposition party in the British to mobilise public opinion about India in
Parliament by criticizing and suggesting proper England.
remedies in the British Administration.
 Poona Sabha (1870)was set up by M.
G. Ranade in Poona.

 Indian Association (1876) was set up

Historical proof of the Safety Valve Theory by S. M. Bannerjee in Kolkata.
The Safety Valve Theory was based on even volumes
of the secret report which A.O. Hume read at Shimla  Madras Mahajan Sabha (1881) was
in 1878. It was related to the seething discontent set up by G. Subramania Iyer, R.
among the classes to over-throw the British rule. It was Anandacharlu and others in Chennai.
first mentioned in William Wedderburn’s biography of
Hume, published in 1913.  Bombay Presidency (1885)was set up
in Mumbai against the rise of taxes in the
region.

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Theories behind the Birth of Congress already formed in 1884, was held in Mumbai
(now Mumbai), in December 1885, Seventy
There are two theories by which historian try to delegates, most of whom were lawyers,
explain the birth of a national level organization such educations and journalists, attended the
as the Congress. convention where the Indian National
Congress was founded.
1. The need of a headquarter for the
movement A Nation and its people become
capable of meaningful and effective political
action only when they are organized. As a part Objective of the First Session of the
of the growth of the national movement, it was Congress
necessary to create a common, all-India The objectives of the Congress as declared in the first
political leadership, that could be looked upon session were:
as the headquarter of the movement. On this (a) Development and consolidation of national
common political platform, political workers unity among the Indian masses irrespective of
from different parts of the country could gather religion, region or caste divide.
and conduct their activities and mobilies (b) Establishing friendly relations and synergizing
people on an all-India basis. The founders of the efforts of the nationalist workers operating
the Congress realized that the requirement of a in different regions of the country.
national movement was a national leadership. (c) Form an agreement on popular demands and
The role of Allan Octavian Hume, the father of important issues and present it before the
Congress, was pivotal as he was British and government.
the government allowed the Congress to come
into existence. A. O. Hume
The rise of the Indian nationalist movement
2. The Safety Valve Theory The British started in the early 1880s. Allan Octavian Hume (1829
foresaw the political situation in the country – 1912), an Englishman and retired civil servant who
leading to another rebellion along the lines of had studied medicine and surgery came to India as an
the War of Independence of 1857. To avoid Indian Civil Services officer in 1849. After retiring
such a situation, the British decided to provide from the British Administrative service, he chose to
an outlet to the local people where they could stay behind in India for the purpose of inculcating the
discuss their political probles. To this end, spirit of nationalism in the Indian youth. The racial
Allan Octavian Hume, a retired British civil discrimination and inequality of the Indians under the
servant, had a series of meetings with Lord British rule propelled Hume to form the Indian
Dufferin, the Viceroy. He also visited England National Union with the help of Wyomesh Chandra
and met people such as John Bright, Sir James Banerjee, in 1884. He is also known as the father of the
Caird, Lord Ripon and some members of the Indian National Congress. He served as the first
British Parliament. Hume also had the support general secretary of the Indian National Congress.
of a large number of Englishmen in India,
including Sir William Wederburn, George The Founding Members of the INC
Yule and Charles Bradlaugh. On his return
from Britain, Hume consulted the local Indian Most of the early members of the Congress
leaders and started working towards the were upwardly mobile and successful Western
establishment of an Indian political educated provincial elites, engaged in professions such
organization. The convention of the Indian as law, teaching and journalism. They had acquired
National Union, an organization he had political experience from regional competition in their

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professions and from their aspirations in securing simultaneous examination for the ICS to be held in
nomination to various positions in the legislative India and England; (iii) reduction in military
councils, universities and special commissions. Among expenditure and (iv) opposition to the annexation of
the founders were some of the leaders such as Upper Burma.
Dadabhai Naoroji, Badruddin Tyabji, Anand Mohan
Bose, R. C. Dutt, K. T. Telang, R. Anandacharly, Moderate Period (1885 – 1905)
Behranji Malbari, Feroz shah Mehta, Gopal Krishna
At first, the Congress was a moderate,
Gohale, G. Subramaniam Iyer, Dinshaw Wacha, Bal
constitutional movement. In its early days, he party
Ganagadhar Tilak, Mahadev Govind Ranade and
confined itself to an annual debate where political
Madan Mohan Malviya. To begin with, the Congress
issues were discussed. It asked the government to
acted as a ‘Kings Party’. All the founding members
remedy complaints, but had no constitutional role.
backed the basic four objectives of the Congress
However, some Congress members were also members
initially. These were: (i) to seek cooperation of all the
of the Legislative Assembly, which advised the
Indians in its efforts; (ii) to bring an end to the race,
viceroy and the executive committee on the drafting of
creed and provincial prejudices and try to form
new laws. The cause of the Indian National Congress
national unity; (iii) to discuss and solve the social
spread rapidly among the middle-class Indians. With
problems of the country and (iv) to request the
the founding of the Indian National Congress, the
government to give more share to Indians in
struggle for India’s independence was launched in a
administrative affairs. As time went by, the Congress
small, hesitant and mild but organized manner. The
changed its stance and apparently became the biggest
first two decades of the Indian National Congress are
opposition to the British government.
described in history as one with moderate demands and
The Poona Meeting a sense of confidence in British justice and generosity.
Its aim was not to be aggressive in attaining
A. O. Hume, in association with various independence lest the British should suppress them.
national leaders, called for its first meeting in Poona on This resulted in the Indian Council Act in 1892, which
28 December 1885. The conference received the allowed some members to be indirectly elected by the
unanimous support of all Indian leaders, but the venue Indians but kept the official majority intact.
was shifted to Mumbai.

First Session
Indian Parliamentary Committee and Sir
The leaders decided to rename the Indian William Wedder Burn
National Union as the Indian National Congress during
the first session. Lord Reay, Governor of Mumbai, was Sir William Weddrburn was a politician from the
invited to convenue the first session as the President of liberal Party in the United Kingdom. He was born on
the session, but on his refusal, the session was held 25 March 1838 in Edinburgh, Scotland in the United
under the presidentship of W. C. Bannerjee. He was a Kingdom. He tried to reform the banking system to
veteran lawyer from Kolkata (now Kolkata). About 72 solve the grievances of the peasants during his career.
delegates from all over India attended the conference. He, along with W.S. Caine set up the Indian
This was a truly national gathering with leaders such as Parliamentary Committee in 1893 to agitate for Indian
Dadabhai Naoroji, Mahadev Govind Ranade, Pheroze political reforms in the House of Commons. When he
Shah Mehta, Dinshaw Wacha and K. T. Telang felt that he did not get adequate support in the reforms,
participating. The main demands put forward at the he started helping the Indian National Congress and
session included: (i) reforms of the Legislative support the local self-government.
Councils and acceptance of election in the place of
nomination as a principle to constitute them; (ii) a
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INC before World War I

However, certain changes at the turn of the
century resulted in changing the mood of the Congress.
The most important among them was the change in the
attitude of the British. Some of the repressive and
oppressive measures of the British promoted the
growth of extremism within the Congress. Extremist
leaders such as Bipin Chandra Pal, Bal Ganagadhar
Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai called on the people to show
courage and self-reliance for the cause of India’s
nationalism. The partition of Bengal in 1905 raised the
political temper of the country. The Congress started
getting polarized into the moderates and the extremists.
This era of militant nationalism prevailed within, and
without the Congress during 1906 – 1919. The 1906
session of Congress, declared Dominion Status, to be
the political goal of the Congress and the four
resolutions on boycott, swadeshi, swaraj and national
education were adopted.

INC during World War I

The Congress reunited in support of the British
during World War I but was disappointed soon after
the war when British restricted political activity in
India. Under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, the
Congress demanded Purna Swaraj (complete
independence) and waged periodic campaigns of non-
violent civil disobedience. Although leaders of the
organization were imprisoned several times, British
made some concessions in the 1930s.

INC during World War II

During World War II, the Congress was
suppressed when it refused to support British.
However, it had proved the strength of its popular
support, and Britain granted independence to India
following the war (1947). The predominantly Hindu
Congress reluctantly accepted the creation of Pakistan
as a separate Muslim nation.

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Table 4.5 Important Sessions of INC

Session Year President Venue National Events

that Took Place
1st 1885 W.C.Banerjee Mumbai Beginning years
1. Stressed upon the need for an
unbiased Government through
administrative alterations
2. Concern regarding poverty-
elimination.
3. Motion against the increase in
poverty and misery, poor
financial condition of the country
and steady deterioration in the
condition of ryots since 1848 as
nearly 40 million people had only
one meal a day and some times
not even that
4. Annual sessions of the
Congress party held at differenct
places every year.
5. Organization of provincial
conferences to promote country-
wide involvement.
6. Concrete efforts to amass
public opinion in the favour of
Indians in Great Britain.
7. Emphasis on the look out for
representation in government as
Madan Mohan Malviya upheld
‘No taxation without
representation’.
2nd 1886 Dadabhai Naroji Kolkata
3rd 1887 Badruddin Tyabji Chennai
4th 1888 George Yule Allahabad
5th 1889 Sir Willial Mumbai To pressurize the
Wedderburn Parliament in Great
Britain to accept their
demands, British
Committee of the
Indian National
Congress, established
its offices in London.
6th 1890 Sir Feroz Shah Mehta Kolkata
7th 1891 P. Anandacharlu Nagpur
8th 1892 W. C. Banerjee Allahabad Dadabhai Naoroji
elected to the British
Parliament in Great
Britain.

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9th 1893 Dadabhai Naroji Lahore Indian Council Act

1882, despite being a
big victory for the
Congress, it did not
conceive the idea of
elected
representation.
10th 1894 Alfred Webb Chennai
11th 1895 Surendranath Banerjee Poona Integration of Congress
1. Demand for economic
responsibility.
2. Demand to Indianise the
services.
3. Protection against being
economically feeble and
powerless.
4. Government’s insensitivity
towards natural calamities.
5. Famine-hit area of Pune
witnessed Lokmanya Tilak’s
efforts in the form of social
welfare. His writings in Kesari
wereperceived as the tools of
inciting violence because of
which he was put behind the bars.
6. Under the Viceroy, Lord
Curzon, many oppressive
measures were taken such as
(a) The sedition Act that snatched
the elementary freedom of
people.
(b) Official Secrets Act that
shifted the burden of proof of
innocence onto the accused, and
(c) Disapproval regarding the
partition of Bengal on Communal
basis.
12th 1896 Rahimtulla Kolkata Revolution holding
M. Sayani the British
responsible for
creating the famine
that took place.
13th 1897 C. Sankaran Nair Amravati
14th 1898 Ananda Mohan Bose Chennai
15th 1899 Romesh Chanderdutta Lucknow Framing of the First
Party Constitution.
16th 1900 N. G. Chandvarkar Lahore As a result of the
growing Congress
movement, the
British deprived the
Indians from
education through the

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Universities Act,
1904 that limited the
spread of the English
education.
17th 1901 Sir Dinshaw Eduljee Kolkata Mahatma Gandhi
Wacha appeared on the
Congress platform
for the first time
seeking support for
the struggle in South
Africa.
18th 1902 Surendranath Ahmedabad
Bannerjee
19th 1903 Lal Mohan Ghosh Chennai
20th 1904 Sir Henry Cotton Mumbai
21st 1905 G. K. Gokhale Banaras Demand for Self Government
1. Widerspread protests against
the Partition of Bengal – blatantly
promoted by Lord Curzon as the
creation of a Muslim Enclave.
2. The Congress witnessed
arguments between the
Moderates (who favoured
peaceful afitation) and the
Extremists (who favoured violent
means, if needed).
22nd 1906 Dadabhai Naoroji Kolkata India demanded
Swaraj; and
boycotted British
goods
23rd 1907 Rash Behari Ghosh Surat First split in Congress
between Moderates
and Extremists took
place whereby, the
moderates retained
the control of the
Organization
24th 1908 Rash Behari Ghosh Chennai
1909 Pr. Madam Mohan Lahore Although the Minto-
Malviya Morley Reforms
created the Indian
Councils and gave
representation, they
had sown the seed of
communalism by
providing separate
electorates for the
Hindus and the
Muslims.
25th 1910 Sir William Allahabad The first signs of
Wedderburn strain in Hindu-
Muslim relations

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appeared.
26th 1911 Pandit B. N. Dhar Kolkata The partition of
Bengal was nullified
27th 1912 R. N. Modholkar Bankipore
28th 1913 Nawab Syed Karachi
Mohammad Bahadur
29th 1914 Bhupendranath Basu Chennai
30th 1915 Sir Satyendra Prasad Mumbai The Foundations of Independent
Sinha India
1. The House Rule Movement.
2. The Advent of Gandhi.
3. The Khilafat Movement.
4. The Non-Cooperation
Movement.
31st 1916 Ambica Charan Lucknow The Lucknow Pact
Mazumdar was signed Muslim
League in a joint
session
32nd 1917 Dr. Annie Besant Kolkata (a) A Congress Flag
was proposed
(b) The Principle of
Linguistic Division
was accepted which
led to the foundation
for the eventual
creation of states by
linguistic identity.
(c) Satyagraha was
introduced by
Mahatma Gandhi in
weagon of political
protest
33rd 1918 Syed Hasan Imam Mumbai Satyagraha became
1918 Pt. Madan Mohan Delhi successful in Gujarat.
Malviya
34th 1919 Motilal Nehru Amritsar Throughout the
country, Satyagraha
was organized by
Mahatma Gandhi
against the Rowaltt
Act; Jallian Wala
Bagh massacre in
Amritsar.
35th 1920 Lala Lajpat Rai Kolkata (a) The Khilafat
C.Vijayaaghavachariar Nagpur Movement took place
(annual) (b) Mahatma Gandhi
toured India to
organize the Non-
Cooperation
Movement; The
congress became a
mass movement and

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the whole country

became one under
Mahatma Gandhi.
36th 1921 C. R. Das (in prison) Ahmedabad
Hakim Ajmal Khan
(Acting)
37th 1922 C. R. Das Gaya (a) Gandhiji was
imprisoned
(b) Formation of the
Swaraj Party
38th 1923 Maulana Abul Kalam Delhi
Azad
Maulana Mahammad Kakinada
Ali (Annual)
39th 1924 Mahatma Gandhi Belgaum Gandhiji fasted for 21
days to mark his
protest against the
communal
disturbances.
40th 1925 Mrs. Sarojini Naidu Kanpur Hindi was adopted as The Demand for Complete
the official language Independence
for the Congress 1. Gandhi – Irwin Pact.
sessions. 2. Definition of Fundamental
Rights.
41st 1926 S. Srinivasa Iyengar Guwahati For proposing
constitutional reforms
in India, the Simon
commission was
proposed.
42nd 1927 Dr. M. A. Ansari Chennai The resolution
marked the boycott of
the Simon
Commission.
43rd 1928 Pandit Motilal Nehru Kolkata (a) Hartals held
successfully against
the Simon
Commission
(b) UnderPt. Motilal
Nehru, the All Party
Committee was
appointed to frame
the Constitution for
Independent India.
(c) Under Sardar
Vallabhai Patel, the
Bardoli Satyagraha
also became
successful.
44th 1929 Jawaharlal Nehru Lahore (a) Talks between
Gandhi and Irwin.
(b) Resolution
marked for complete

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1930 (No session) but independence.

Independence Day (a) 26th January was
Pledge was adopted adopted as the ‘Purna
on 26th Jan 1930. Swaraj Day’.
(b) There was a call
for Civil
Disobedience.
(c) Salt Satyagraha –
Dandi march took
place.
(d) All major
Congress leaders
were arrested; the
AICC Working
Committee was
declared as an
unlawful body.
(e) Congress opposed
the Round Table
Conference.
45th 1931 Vallabhabhai Patel Karachi (a) The Fundamental
Rights were defined.
(b) The AICC
Working Committee
Members were
released.
(c) The Viceroy
invited the Congress
to join discussions
regarding the future
of India.
(d) Mahatma Gandhi
got the authority to
speak on behalf of
the Congress.
(e) Gandhi – Irwin
Pact inked.
46th 1932 Delhi (session was (a) Despite the
banned) repression by the
Ranchod Lal Amrit British, the struggle
Lal for freedom
continued.
(b) Gandhi was
imprisoned.
(c) The 1932 Poona
Agreement passed
guarantying
reservation of seats
for the SCs/STs.
47th 1933 Nellie Sengupta Kolkata Gandhi was on fast
(session was banned) for 21 days for the
cause of the Harijans.

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48th 1934 Rajendra Prasad Mumbai (a) Gandhiji

(continued again for withdrew from the
1935) Congress.
(b)Non-violence and
Khadi became the
1935 fundamental belief of Struggle at the Final Stages of
Rajendra Prasad the Congress as a part Gaining Independence
of the amendment of 1. People demanded immediate
its constitution. freedom
(a) The Government 2.Mass Satyagraha all over India.
of India Act was
passed.
(b) Gandhiji’s focus
shifted to social
reforms.
(c) Congress decided
to content the
election but disagreed
with the new
Constitution.
49th 1936 Jawaharlal Nehru Lucknow Nehru condemned
Fascism in his
Presidential address.
50th 1937 Jawaharlal Nehru Faizpur Elections won by the
Congress in five out
of the nine provinces
51st 1938 Subhas Chandra Bose Haripura
52nd 1939 Bose (Re-elected for Tripuri (a) The Congress
1939 1939) Tripuri ministers resigned
Rajindra Prasad and withdrew from
the Legislative
Process.
(b) A constituent
assembly elected by
Universal Franchise
was demanded.
53rd 1940 Maulana Abul Kalam Ramgarh (a) Non-cooperation
Azad in the war effort.
(b) Demand for a
national government.
(c) Resolution of
August 1942 Quit
India Movement
passed.
1941 (No sessions, caused
(d) Public protests all
by arrests and jailing)
over India because of
1942 (No sessions, caused
the mass arrests.
by arrests and jailing)
1943 (No sessions, caused
by arrests and jailing)
1944 (No sessions, caused
Victories of allies in
by arrests and jailing)
the war leading to
(No sessions, caused
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1945 by arrests and jailing) adamant stance of the

Britishers.
Jinnah steadfast on
the partition of India.

Failure of the Shimla

Conference.
54th 1946 Acharya J. B. Meerut (a) INA trials.
Kripalani (b) Mutiny in the
Navy at Mumbai and
Karachi.
(c) The Cabinet
Mission was
supposed to decide
the fate of India.
(d) Congress wins
majority in the
Constitutional
Assembly.
55th 1947 (a) India achieved
Independence and
was also partitioned.
56th 1948 B.Pattabhi Jaipur
Sitaramayya

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