NCERT Notes on important GK topics for the UPSC Prelims, UPPSC, NDA, CDS, CAPF, AFCAT, INET etc. This article covers Indian National Congress which was established in 1885 & its important sessions during the freedom struggle. Check Other NCERT Notes Here
"The Congress is Tottering to its fall, and one of my great ambitions, while in India, is to assist it to a peaceful demise": Lord Curzon (1899-1905 Viceroy)
The Indian National Congress was founded by members of the Theosophical Society on December 28, 1885 at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Bombay, with 72 delegates in attendance.
The first INC session was initially supposed to be held in Poona but was moved to Bombay due to the outbreak of cholera in Poona.
It was formed during the period of Governor General Lord Dufferin (1884 - 1888). Allan Octavian Hume's ( the founder of INC ) main purpose in encouraging the foundation of the congress was probably to provide a “safety valve” to the growing discontent among the educated Indians.
IMPORTANT POINTS TO REMEMBER FROM INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS SESSIONS
The first president of Indian National Congress was Womesh Chandra Banerji.
The first session of the Indian National Congress was held in December 1885 in Mumbai.
The first Muslim president of the INC was Badruddin Tayabji. (1887 at Madras session)
The first Englishman to become the president of INC was George Yule. (1888 at Allahabad session)
The first woman president of INC was Mrs Annie Besant. ( 1917 at Kolkata session )
Mahatma Gandhi presided over the Belgaum session of the INC in 1924.
The first Indian woman president of the INC was Mrs Sarojini Naidu. ( 1925 at Kanpur session )
The president of INC at the time of India's independence was Acharya JB Kripalani.
Maximum Number of Congress sessions were held in Calcutta.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad had the longest duration of serving as a President. He became the youngest person to serve as the President of the Indian National Congress.
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MOST IMPORTANT SESSIONS OF INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS ( INC )
Year - Place - President | Importance Of INC Annual Sessions |
1885 - Bombay - W. C. Banerjee | First session of INC. It was attended by 72 delegates. |
1887 - Madras - Badruddin Tyabji | First muslim President was elected. It appealed Muslim friends to join. |
1888 - Allahabad - George Jule | First season of INC to be presided over by an Englishman. |
1896 - Calcutta - Rahimtulla M. Sayani | National song ‘Vande Mataram’ was sung for the first time. |
1899 - Lucknow - Romesh Chunder Dutt | Demand for permanent fixation of land revenue was raised. |
1901 - Calcutta - Dinshaw Wacha | Gandhiji, for the first time met INC leaders |
1906 - Calcutta - Dadabhai Naoroji | Word “Swaraj” was mentioned for the first time. |
1907 - Surat - Rash Behari Ghosh | Party splits into extremists and moderates. |
1908 - Surat - Rash Behari Ghosh | The Constitution of Indian National Congress was drawn. |
1909 - Lahore - Madan Mohan Malviya | Disapproval on Morley-Minto reform ( separate electorate for Muslims ) |
1911 - Calcutta - Bishan Narayan Das | Jana Gana Mana sung for the first time. |
1916 - Lucknow - A. C. Majumdar | Lucknow Pact – joint session with the Muslim League |
1918 - Bombay - Hasan Imam | Condemned Montague Chelmsford Reforms as “disappointing and unsatisfactory” & demanded effective self government instead |
1925 - Kanpur - Sarojini Naidu | First Indian woman President of INC. |
1928 - Calcutta - Motilal Nehru | First, the All India Youth Congress was formed. |
1929 - Lahore - Jawaharlal Nehru | Resolution for Poorna Swaraj or complete independence was passed. Agreement on launching the Civil Disobedience movement. |
1931 - Karachi - Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel | Resolution on Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy, later known as Karachi Resolution |
1938 - Haripur - S. C. Bose | National Planning Committee set up under Nehru. |
1939 - Tripuri - S. C. Bose | S. C. Bose was elected, but he resigned and then, Rajendra Prasad became president. |
1946 - Meerut - J. B. Kripalani | Last INC session before the Independence of India. |
1948 - Jaipur - Pattabhi Sitaramayya | First session after the Independence of India. |
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