Indian National Congress Sessions
The Indian National Congress(INC) was founded on 28 December 1885 by Allan Octavian Hume, initially Indian National Congress is for discussing civil and political issues among educated Indians. Later, INC became the driving force behind the nationalist movement. The Indian National Congress (INC) emerged as the main political platform that brought the country together against British colonial authority and played a pivotal role in India’s freedom movement. The Congress held annual sessions, where leaders from across India gathered to discuss policies and strategies. Additionally, special sessions were also convened during critical moments, such as the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920). The main objectives of the Indian National Congress were to promote National Unity and to allow all the political members in the country to educate and mobilize masses under a common all India political organization and political awakening among the educated citizens and then to all the sections of the society.
Indian National Congress founders: Allan Octavian Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji and Dinshaw Edulji Wacha
Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee was elected as the President of the first session while A.O Hume acted as the General Secretary. Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee was the first President of the INC. Dadabhai Naoroji was the President of the INC three times: in 1886 (Calcutta), 1893 (Lahore), and 1906 (Calcutta).
The following table provide information regarding the year, place, presidents, and significance of each major session of the Indian National Congress:
| Year | Place | President | Significance |
| 1885 | Bombay | W C Bonnerjee | 72 delegates attended at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Bombay for the INC’s inaugural session. Lord Dufferin was the Viceroy |
| 1886 | Calcutta | Dadabhai Naoroji | Merger of INC and National Conference and Decided to set up Provincial Congress Committees across the country. |
| 1887 | Madras | Syed Badruddin Tyabji | To promote unity and cooperation among the various regional groups, the appeal was made to the Muslims to join INC. |
| 1888 | Allahabad | George Yule | First English president |
| 1889 | Bombay | Sir William Wedderburn | – |
| 1890 | Calcutta | Feroz Shah Mehta | The first woman graduate from Calcutta University, Kadambini Ganguly, spoke at the Congress in 1890. |
| 1891 | Nagpur | P. Ananda Charlu | – |
| 1892 | Allahabad | Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee | Congress criticized the Indian Councils Act of 1892 |
| 1893 | Lahore | Dadabhai Naoroji | – |
| 1894 | Madras | Alfred Webb | – |
| 1895 | Poona | Surendranath Banerjee | There was a significant increase in the number of attendees for this session. |
| 1896 | Calcutta | Rahimtullah M. Sayani | “Vande Mataram”, was sung for the first time.
Passed a resolution blaming the British for the famine that had devastated many parts of India. |
| 1897 | Amravati | C. Sankaran Nair | – Congress slammed the British for the arrest of Bal Gangadhar Tilak. |
| 1898 | Madras | Ananda Mohan Bose | – |
| 1899 | Lucknow | Romesh Chandra Dutt | Congress demanded that the British government should stop the ‘drain of wealth’ from India to England. |
| 1900 | Lahore | N G Chandavarkar | – |
| 1901 | Calcutta | Dinshaw E. Wacha | Mahatma Gandhi appeared on the Congress platform.
Gandhi pleaded with Congress to back the fight against racial exploitation and injustice in the Country. |
| 1902 | Ahmedabad | Surendranath Banerjee | – |
| 1903 | Madras | Lal Mohan Ghosh | – |
| 1904 | Bombay | Sir Henry Cotton | Congress expressed strong disapproval of Lord Curzon’s misuse of Indian revenues for his aggressive policy in Tibet and protested the Curzon administration’s plan to partition Bengal. |
| 1905 | Benares | Gopal Krishna Gokhale | Expressed resentment against the partition of Bengal The divisions between the moderates and the extremists came to the fore;
– Adopted Swadeshi resolution. |
| 1906 | Calcutta | Dadabhai Naoroji | The word ‘Swaraj’ was mentioned for the first time Congress declared Swaraj as its aim. |
| 1907 | Surat | Rash Behari Ghosh | Congress was split into two – the moderates and the extremists. (Suspended) |
| 1908 | Madras | Rash Behari Ghosh | Previous session continued |
| 1909 | Lahore | Madan Mohan Malaviya | Indian Councils Act, 1909
Congress opposed the Indian Councils Act of 1909’s proposal to create separate electorates based on religion |
| 1910 | Allahabad | Sir William Wedderburn | – |
| 1911 | Calcutta | Bishan Narayan Dhar | ‘Jana Gana Mana’ sung for the first time. |
| 1912 | Bankipore (Patna) | Raghunath Narasinha Mudholkar | – |
| 1913 | Karachi | Nawab Syed Mohammed Bahadur | – |
| 1914 | Madras | Bhupendra Nath Basu | Congress demanded that Indians be allowed to have higher positions in the army. |
| 1915 | Bombay | Satyendra Prasanna Sinha | |
| 1916 | Lucknow | Ambica Charan Mazumdar | Lucknow Pact – joint session with the Muslim League |
| 1917 | Calcutta | Annie Besant (1847 – 1933) | First woman president of the INC |
| 1918 (Special Session) | Bombay | Syed Hasan Imam | Two sessions were held. First in Bombay in August/September Second in Delhi in December.
Congress expressed disappointment with the Montague-Chelmsford Reform. It called for the Indian people to have a Declaration of Rights. |
| 1918 | Delhi | Madan Mohan Malaviya | |
| 1919 | Amritsar | Motilal Nehru | Jallianwala Bagh massacre strongly condemned |
| 1920 (Special Session) | Calcutta | Lala Lajpat Rai | INC approved the Non-Cooperation Movement (NCM). |
| 1920 | Nagpur | C Vijaya raghavachariar | –- Congress intensified the NCM.
-The importance of using non-violent means was emphasized. |
| 1921 | Ahmedabad | Hakim Ajmal Khan (acting President For C R Das) | – Gandhiji was declared the only executive authority of the Congress and given full AICC authority. |
| 1922 | Gaya | Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das | Discussions on the issue of council entry led to CR Das and others breaking away from INC and forming the Swaraj party. |
| 1923 | Kakinada | Maulana Mohammad Ali, | – |
| 1923 (Special Session) | Delhi | Maulana Abul Kalam Azad | Decided to permit members to run for office in the next elections. |
| 1924 | Belgaum | M K Gandhi | – The Only INC session presided over by Mahatma Gandhi. |
| 1925 | Kanpur | Sarojini Naidu (1879 – 1949) | First Indian woman president |
| 1926 | Guwahati | S Srinivasa Iyengar | – |
| 1927 | Madras | M A Ansari | Congress resolved to boycott the Simon Commission. |
| 1928 | Calcutta | Motilal Nehru | All India Youth Congress formed Resolution to adopt the Motilal Nehru report’s suggestion to grant Dominion Status to India within two years. |
| 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’. Congress declared Purna Swaraj as its ultimate goal. |
| 1930 | No Session | – | – |
| 1931 | Karachi | Vallabhbhai Patel | Resolution on fundamental rights and national economic progress. Gandhi-Irwin pact endorsed. Gandhi nominated to represent INC in the second round table conference |
| 1932 | Delhi | Amrit Ranchhorddas Seth | – |
| 1933 | Calcutta | Malaviya Was Elected But Mrs Nellie Sengupta Presided | – |
| 1934 | Bombay | Rajendra Prasad | Wearing a Khadi was established as a rule for elected members. |
| 1936 | Lucknow | Jawaharlal Nehru | Urged Congressman to adopt Socialism. |
| 1937 | Faizpur | Jawaharlal Nehru | first session to be held in a village |
| 1938 | Haripura | Subhas Chandra Bose | National planning committee set up under the chairmanship Nehru
Reje cted the federal structure given by GoI 1935. |
| 1939 | Tripuri | Subhas Chandra Bose | Bose was elected but had to resign since Gandhi supported Pattabhi Sitaramayya. Instead, Rajendra Prasad was appointed |
| 1940 | Ramgarh | Abul Kalam Azad | – |
| 1941-45 | – | – | No session because of arrest |
| 1946 | Meerut | Acharya J B Kripalani | Last session before independence |
| 1948 | Jaipur | Pattabhi Sitaramayya | First session after independence |
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