Indian National Congress History and important bits

 

INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS SESSIONS – 1885 - 1948

YEAR – PLACE CONVENED – PRESIDENTS – IMPORTANT RESOLUTIONS

            ‘The Indian Association’ first avowed nationalist association in British India. 1876. Surendranath Benerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose. Aim: Political, intellectual and material advancement of the people.

INC : 1885 December 28. A.O. Hume.

Akbar Road, New Delhi.

Newspaper: Congress Sandesh National Herald.

 

1st President.

1st Parsi President

2nd Parsi President

1st Muslim President

2nd Muslim President

1st South Indian President

2nd South Indian President

1st Session in South India

2nd Session in South India

1st Woman President

1st Woman to address INC Session.

1st foreign president of INC 

2nd foreign president of INC  Sir William Wedderburn 1. 2. 1910 Allahabad

3rd foreign president of INC - Alfred Webb - 1894 Madras.

4th foreign president of INC - Sir Henry Cotton 1904 Bombay.

1st INC Session attended by Gandhi was Calcutta session held in 1901.

2st INC session attended by Nehru - Bankipore (Patna) 1912.

 

Totla INC sessions held in Madras : 1. 1887 Badruddin Tyabji.       2. 1894 Sir William Wedderburn              3. 1898 Anand Mohan Bose   4. Lal Mohan Ghosh 1903                        5. Rash Behari Ghosh 1908                6. Bhupendra Nath Basu 1914                        7. M.A. Ansari 1927   8.

 

Vandemataram was sung first time in Calcutta INC session held in 1896, presided over by Rahimathullah M Sayani. It was sung by Rabindranath Tagore.

 

Drain of wealth was first accepted in 1896 INC Calcutta session.

 

Chettur Shankaran Nair is the only Malayalee president of INC - 1897 Amaraoti (Maharashtra).

________________________________________

Pattabhi Sitharamaiyyah

•           Pattabhi Sitharamiyyah is also known as ‘the official historian of Indian National Congress’

•           He is the author of the book ‘History of Congress.’ Dr. Rajendra Prasad wrote introduction for this book published in 1935.

•           The diary he maintained during the jail time was published later as ‘Feathers and stones’

 

	YEAR	PLACE	PRESIDENT	IMPORTANT RESOLUTIONS
1	1885	Bombay	W C Bonnerjee Also Presided over Allahabad Session-1892	1st session attended by 72 delegates. Most of the delegates were from Bombay.
2	1886	Calcutta	Dadabhai Naoroji Headed total 3 sessions: 1.     1886 Calcutta, 2.     1893 Lahore and 3.     1906 Calcutta	* National Congress and National Conference * 1ST. Parsi President. * It was attended by 434 delegates * Congress decided to set up Provincial Congress Committees across the country
3	1887	Madras	Syed Badruddin Tyabji	Appeal made to Muslims to join hands with other national leaders. First Muslim President – Syed Badruddin Tyabji. Attended by 607 delegates. First Session conducted in South India.
4	1888	Allahabad	George Yule	First Foreigner/European/White / English President of INC. It was attended by 1248 delegates.
5	1889	Bombay	Sir William Wedderburn	First Congress session attended by Women Attended by 1889 delegates William Wedderburn was the second foreigner President of INC He was the only foreigner to be the President of INC twice (1889 Bombay and 1910 Allahabad)
6	1890	Calcutta	Feroz Shah Mehta	Pherosh Shah Mehta was the second Parsi president of INC. A woman addressed Congress for the first time in this session. Kadambini Ganguly was the first woman to address a Congress session.
7	1891	Nagpur	P. Ananda Charlu	Ananda Charlu was the 1st South Indian President of INC (Madras). The term ‘national’ was added to the name of Congress.
8	1892	Allahabad	W C Bonnerjee	2nd time as President.
9	1893	Lahore	Dadabhai Naoroji	2nd time as President.
10	1894	Madras	Alfred Webb	3rd Foreign President of INC.
11	1895	Poona	Surendranath Banerjee	–
12	1896	Calcutta	Rahimtullah M. Sayani	National song ‘Vande Mataram’ sung for the first time. It was sung by Rabindra Natha Tagore. Congress officially accepted the drain of wealth theory in this session Rahimathullah Sayani was the second Muslim President of INC
13	1897	Amravati	Chettur Sankaran Nair	Only Malayali president of INC.
14	1898	Madras	Ananda Mohan Bose	Social reform was set as the main goal of Congress.
15	1899	Lucknow	Romesh Chandra Dutt	Demand for permanent fixation of Land revenue
16	1900	Lahore	N G Chandavarkar
17	1901	Calcutta	Dinshaw E. Wacha	First time Gandhiji appeared on the Congress platform Gandhi moved a resolution on South Africa in 1901 Calcutta session.
18	1902	Ahmedabad	Surendranath Banerjee
19	1903	Madras	Lal Mohan Ghosh	–
20	1904	Bombay	Sir Henry Cotton	* Congress protested the violation of rules by Lord Curzon as he used revenues from India for his forward policy in Tibet. * Henry Cotton was the third foreigner President and first foreigner president in 20th century.
21	1905	Benares	Gopal Krishna Gokhale	* Expressed resentment against the partition of Bengal. * The divisions between the moderates led by Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Surendranath Banerjea and the extremists led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak came to the fore in this session. While Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai wanted the Congress to boycott the visit of the Prince of Wales in protest against the Bengal Partition, the moderates opposed any such move. * Formal proclamation of Swadeshi movement against government
22	1906	Calcutta	Dadabhai Naoroji	* The word ‘Swaraj’ was mentioned for the first time. * Adopted four resolutions on: Swaraj (Self Government), Boycott Movement, Swadeshi and National Education. Congress declared Swaraj or Self Government as its ultimate goal. * This declaration was made by President Dadabhai Naoroji. * Naoroji was 81 year old at that time and the oldest President of INC till date.
23	1907	Surat	Rash Behari Ghosh	* Party splits into extremists and moderates. The session was marred with violence and eventually suspended. Extremists left Congress. * 1st split.   * Held on the banks of river Tapti. * Adjournment of Session
	1908	Madras	Rash Behari Ghosh	Previous session continued
24	1909	Lahore	Madan Mohan Malaviya	Indian Councils Act, 1909
25	1910	Allahabad	Sir William Wedderburn	M.A Jinnah decried the separate electorate system introduced by act of 1909.
26	1911	Calcutta	Bishan Narayan Dhar	‘Jana Gana Mana’ sung for the first time. * Congress welcomed the British Monarch, George V, who was visiting India for the first time.
27	1912	Bankipore (Patna)	Raghunath Narasinha Mudholkar	* Bankipur Session was the first congress session attended by Jawaharlal Nehru.
28	1913	Karachi	Syed Mohammed	–
29	1914	Madras	Bhupendra Nath Basu	–
30	1915	Bombay	Satyendra Prasanna Sinha	Constitution of the Congress was altered to admit the delegates from the extremist section.
31	1916	Lucknow	Ambica Charan Mazumdar	* Lucknow Pact – Unity between two factions-Moderates and Extremists of Congress * Lucknow Pact signed between Congress and Muslim League to build political consensus / joint session with the All India Muslim League.
32	1917	Calcutta	Annie Besant (1847 – 1933)	First woman president of the INC
33	1918	Bombay And Delhi	Syed Hasan Imam (Bombay) And Madan Mohan Malaviya (Delhi)	* Two sessions were held. First in Bombay in August/September Second in Delhi in December. * 1st INC session in Delhi. * The session was convened to deliberate the contentious Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms Scheme
34	1919	Amritsar	Motilal Nehru	Jallianwala Bagh massacre strongly condemned. Congress extended support to Khilafat Movement.
35	1920*	Calcutta	Lala Lajpat Rai	Special Session. Mahatma Gandhi moved the Non cooperation resolution.
36	1920	Nagpur	C Vijayaraghavachariar	* Reconstitution of Working committees of Congress on Linguistic basis  * MA Jinnah left the Indian National Congress. Congress was given new organizational structure * Congress decided to set up Provincial Committees on linguistic basis * Congress subscription was fixed at 4 annas and minimum age for membership was reduced to 18. * A 15-member Congress Working Committee was constituted. * Congress changed its goal from ‘attainment of self government by constitutional means’ to ‘attainment of swaraj by peaceful and legitimate manner.’
37	1921	Ahmedabad	Hakim Ajmal Khan (acting President For C R Das)	Chitharanjan Das was chosen as the President of INC in 1921. Since he was in jail, Hakim Ajmal Khan was elected as President in the absence of C.R. Das. * Hakkim Ajmal Khan was the first Acting President of INC. He is the only person to have been appointed president of the Indian National Congress, the Muslim League and the All India Khilafat Committee. Moulana Hasrat Mohani was the first person to propose that Swaraj should be defined as complete independence, free from foreign control in 1921 while presiding over a Muslim League Session in 1921.
38	1922	Gaya	C R Das	–
39	1923*	Delhi	Maulana Abul Kalam Azad	Special session. Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad became the president of INC for the first time * Azad was the youngest president of INC, at the age of 35. * Congress decided to set up All India Khadi Board
40	1923	Kakinada	Maulana Mohammad Ali,	–
41	1924	Belgaum Karnataka	M K Gandhi	Only Session presided over by Mahatma Gandhi.
42	1925	Kanpur	Sarojini Naidu (1879 – 1949)	2nd Woman and 1st Indian woman president of INC.
43	1926	Guwahati	S Srinivasa Iyengar	–
44	1927	Madras	M A Ansari	* Passed a resolution against the use of Indian troops in China, Iran and Mesopotamia. * Congress decided to boycott Simon Commission * Passed a resolution against boycott of Simon Commission
45	1928	Calcutta	Motilal Nehru	All India Youth Congress formed. Congress demanded Dominion status to be given within one year.
46	1929	Lahore	Jawaharlal Nehru	Resolution for ‘Poorna Swaraj.’ Civil Disobedience movement for complete independence to be launched, 26 January to be observed as ‘Independence Day’. * On December 31, 1929 Jawaharlal Nehru hoisted tricolor flag on the Banks of river Ravi, at Lahore. * J.L. Nehru was the youngest person to be the president of INC in a regular session. (Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad became the president in a special session)
	1930	No Session	–	–
47	1931	Karachi	Vallabhbhai Patel	Resolution on fundamental rights and national economic progress. Fundamental rights were defined for the first time. Gandhi-Irwin pact endorsed. Gandhi nominated to represent INC in the second round table conference.
48	1932	Delhi	Amrit Ranchhorddas Seth	–
49	1933	Calcutta	Malaviya Was Elected But Mrs Nellie Sengupta Presided	2nd Foreign woman and first British woman president of INC. Nillie Sen Guptha’s original name was Edith Ellen Gray.
50	1934	Bombay	Rajendra Prasad	–
51	1937	Lucknow	Jawaharlal Nehru	–
52	1936	Faizpur	Jawaharlal Nehru	First rural session/first session to be held in a village.
53	1938	Haripura	Subhas Chandra Bose	National planning committee set up under Nehru
54	1939	Tripuri	Subhas Chandra Bose	* An election was held for the post of President, for the first time in Congress * Subhas Chandra Bose defeated Pattabhi Sitharamiyyah, the nominee of Gandhi. Subhas Chandra Bose was the first elected President of INC. Bose was elected but had to resign since Gandhi supported Pattabhi Sitaramayya. Instead, Rajendra Prasad was appointed.
55	1940	Ramgarh	Abul Kalam Azad	1940 to 1946 Abul Kalam Azad was the president. Longest continuous term president.
	1941-45	–	–	No session because of arrests.
56	1946	Meerut	Acharya Kripalani	Last session before independence. Kriplani was the president of INC at the time of independence.
57	1948	Jaipur	Pattabhi Sitaramayya	* First session after independence. * It was in this session, Congress appointed JVP Committee to look into the matter of linguistic reorganization of Indian states. The committee consisted of Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhai Patel and Pattabhi Sitharamiyyah