Indian National Congress Sessions from 1885 to 1947: INC Sessions and Presidents List
By BYJU'S Exam Prep
Updated on: November 14th, 2023
Indian National Congress Session: The first Congress Session was conducted in Bombay from 28 to 31 December 1885 by Allan Octavian Hume, who was a retired Civil Service officer. The Indian National Congress (INC), also known as the Congress Party or just the Congress, is a well-established political party in India. It was the first contemporary nationalist movement to arise throughout the British Empire in Asia and Africa when it was founded in 1885. Under Mahatma Gandhi’s direction, Congress took the lead in the Indian independence struggle starting in the late 19th century and notably after 1920.
The Congress had a vital role in the British Empire’s various anti-colonial nationalist movements as well as in the independence of India from the United Kingdom. The Congress is frequently referred to as the “great old party” due to its long and rich history. This article shall present the Indian National Congress Sessions along with its objectives. It will also map out the extensive history of the party briefly along with its foundational story.
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Indian National Congress Session
The Indian National Congress also known as Congress Party, was established in 1885. The INC is one of the effective political parties facing opposition from other recognized parties like the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) to name a few.
Indian National Congress Sessions From 1885 to 1947 PDF
The Indian National Congress sessions were organized at different places in successive years with every session contributing its own significance to the political history of India. Primarily, the Congress session is divided into four segments namely:
- (1885-1900): Founding years
- (1900-1947): Pre-independence Period
- (1947-1990): Post-independence Period
- (1990-2019): Post-liberalization Period.
Objectives of Congress Session
Founded in 1885, the Indian National Congress is one of the oldest political parties in the world. It was a broad-based party encompassing all sections of the society that took the lead during the Indian Independence struggle.
The primary goal of the Indian national congress (1885-1947) was to create a sense of national unity. The first and foremost objective of the INC was to get rid of British colonial rule and to promote the nation-building process by including all sections of society. Some other objectives of the Congress Session were:
- The INC was committed to social inclusion regardless of caste, gender, and religion and vouched for equal rights of all communities and the upliftment of the underprivileged.
- Promoting political consciousness and political awakening among the citizens of the country.
- Lastly, the Indian National Congress aimed to promote political liberal democracy, anti-colonial ideology, and democratic culture among the people.
Important Indian National Congress Sessions from 1885 to 1947
The Indian National Congress has had a critical role in influencing India’s political scenario. Comprising prominent leaders such as Nehru, Bose, Gandhi, and more, the INC was the first contemporary nationalist movement party in the country.
We have provided a summary of the prominent INC sessions of the party from 1885 to 1947 below:
- 1885: The first session of Indian National Congress was held in 1885 under the presidency of W C Bonnerjee in Bombay. 72 delegates attended the session.
- 1896: The national song of the country ‘Vande Mataram’ was sung for the first time in 1896.
- 1907: The Indian National Congress was divided into two sections – Extremists and moderates.
- 1911: The national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was sung for the first time in this session.
- 1917: The first women president of the INC was appointed in this session.
- 1919: The massacre of Jallianwala Bagh was strictly condemned and criticized in this session.
- 1925: The first Indian woman president was appointed in this session, and it was Sarojini Naidu.
- 1929: It was the Lahore session where the resolution for Poorna Swaraj was taken, and 26 January was marked as Independence Day.
- 1931: The Irwin-Gandhi pact was approved, and Gandhi was proposed as the representative of INC for the second round table conference.
- 1938: The National planning committee was set up under the leadership of Pandit Nehru.
- 1948: This was the first session to be held after the country’s independence.
Congress President List (1885 – 1947)
Since 1880, educated Indians have acknowledged the requirement for an all-India organization, but the Ilbert Bill dispute fueled this urge even more. One of the most significant political organizations of the 20th century was born with the foundation of Indian National Congress (INC).
Since the INC has held a significant role in the country’s political scenario. Below, we have tabulated the Indian National congress session list from 1885 to 1947.
| INC Session List from 1885 to 1947 | ||||
| Number of Sessions | INC President List | Location | Year | Importance |
| 1 | W C Bonnerjee | Bombay | 1885 | 1st session was attended by 72 delegates |
| 2 | Dadabhai Naoroji | Calcutta | 1886 | National Congress and National Conference |
| 3 | Syed Badruddin Tyabji | Madras | 1887 | Appeal made to Muslims to join hands with other national leaders |
| 4 | George Yule | Allahabad | 1888 | First English president |
| 5 | Sir William Wedderburn | Bombay | 1889 | – |
| 6 | Feroz Shah Mehta | Calcutta | 1890 | – |
| 7 | P. Ananda Charlu | Nagpur | 1891 | – |
| 8 | W C Bonnerjee | Allahabad | 1892 | – |
| 9 | Dadabhai Naoroji | Lahore | 1893 | – |
| 10 | Alfred Webb | Madras | 1894 | – |
| 11 | Surendranath Banerjee | Poona | 1895 | – |
| 12 | Rahimtullah M. Sayani | Calcutta | 1896 | National song ‘Vande Mataram’ sung for the first time |
| 13 | C. Sankaran Nair | Amravati | 1897 | – |
| 14 | Ananda Mohan Bose | Madras | 1898 | – |
| 15 | Romesh Chandra Dutt | Lucknow | 1899 | – |
| 16 | N G Chandavarkar | Lahore | 1900 | – |
| 17 | Dinshaw E. Wacha | Calcutta | 1901 | – |
| 18 | Surendranath Banerjee | Ahmedabad | 1902 | – |
| 19 | Lal Mohan Ghosh | Madras | 1903 | – |
| 20 | Sir Henry Cotton | Bombay | 1904 | – |
| 21 | Gopal Krishna Gokhale | Benares | 1905 | Expressed anger against the partition of Bengal |
| 22 | Dadabhai Naoroji | Calcutta | 1906 | The word ‘Swaraj’ was mentioned for the first time |
| 23 | Rash Behari Ghosh | Surat | 1907 | Party splits into extremists and moderates |
| 24 | Rash Behari Ghosh | Madras | 1908 | Continued revious session |
| 25 | Madan Mohan Malaviya | Lahore | 1909 | Indian Councils Act, 1909 |
| 26 | Sir William Wedderburn | Allahabad | 1910 | – |
| 27 | Bishan Narayan Dhar | Calcutta | 1911 | ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was sung for the first time |
| 28 | Raghunath Narasinha Mudholkar | Bankipore (Patna) | 1912 | – |
| 29 | Syed Mohammed | Karachi | 1913 | – |
| 30 | Bhupendra Nath Basu | Madras | 1914 | – |
| 31 | Satyendra Prasanna Sinha | Bombay | 1915 | – |
| 32 | Ambica Charan Mazumdar | Lucknow | 1916 | Lucknow Pact was made in this joint session with the Muslim League |
| 33 | Annie Besant (1847 – 1933) | Calcutta | 1917 | First woman president of the INC |
| 34 | Syed Hasan Imam (Bombay) And Madan Mohan Malaviya (Delhi) | Bombay And Delhi | 1918 | Two sessions were held. First in Bombay in August/September Second in Delhi in December |
| 35 | Motilal Nehru | Amritsar | 1919 | Jallianwala Bagh massacre criticised and condemned |
| 36 | C Vijayaraghavachariar | Nagpur | 1920 | – |
| 37 | Hakim Ajmal Khan (acting President For C R Das) | Ahmedabad | 1921 | – |
| 38 | C R Das | Gaya | 1922 | – |
| 39 | Maulana Mohammad Ali, | Kakinada | 1923 | – |
| 40 | M K Gandhi | Belgaum | 1924 | – |
| 41 | Sarojini Naidu (1879 – 1949) | Kanpur | 1925 | First Indian woman president |
| 42 | S Srinivasa Iyengar | Guwahati | 1926 | – |
| 43 | M A Ansari | Madras | 1927 | – |
| 44 | Motilal Nehru | Calcutta | 1928 | All India Youth Congress formed |
| 45 | Jawaharlal Nehru | Lahore | 1929 | Resolution for “Poorna Swaraj.” Campaign for total independence to be started by the Civil Disobedience Movement; 26 January to be marked as “Independence Day.” |
| 46 | – | No Session | 1930 | – |
| 47 | Vallabhbhai Patel | Karachi | 1931 | Resolution on national economic development and fundamental rights. Irwin-Gandhi Pact was approved. Gandhi was proposed as the INC representative at the second round table conference. |
| 48 | Amrit Ranchhorddas Seth | Delhi | 1932 | – |
| 49 | Malaviya Was Elected But Mrs Nellie Sengupta Presided | Calcutta | 1933 | – |
| 50 | Rajendra Prasad | Bombay | 1934 | – |
| 51 | Jawaharlal Nehru | Lucknow | 1937 | – |
| 52 | Jawaharlal Nehru | Faizpur | 1936 | First rural session/first session to be held in a village |
| 53 | Subhas Chandra Bose | Haripura | 1938 | National planning committee set up under Nehru |
| 54 | Subhas Chandra Bose | Tripuri | 1939 | Despite being elected, Bose was forced to resign because Gandhi backed Pattabhi Sitaramayya. Rajendra Prasad was appointed instead. |
| 55 | Abul Kalam Azad | Ramgarh | 1940 | – |
| 56 | – | – | 1941-45 | No session because of arrest |
| 57 | Acharya Kripalani | Meerut | 1946 | Last session before independence |
| 58 | Pattabhi Sitaramayya | Jaipur | 1948 | First session after independence |
| 59 | Purushottam Das Tandon | Nashik | 1950 | Resigned in 1951; Nehru became President |
| 60 | Jawaharlal Nehru | Delhi | 1951 | – |
| 61 | Jawaharlal Nehru | Hyderabad | 1953 | – |
| 62 | Jawaharlal Nehru | Kalyani | 1954 | – |
| 63 | U. N. Dhebar | Avadi(madras) | 1955 | – |
| 64 | U. N. Dhebar | Amritsar | 1956 | – |
| 65 | U. N. Dhebar | Gauhati | 1958 | – |
| 66 | Indira Gandhi | Nagpur | 1959 | – |
| 67 | Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy | Bangalore | 1960 | – |
| 68 | Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy | Bhavnagar | 1961 | – |
| 69 | Damodaran Sanjvayya | Bhubaneshwar | 1962 | – |
| 70 | Damodaran Sanjvayya | Patna | 1963 | – |
| 71 | K. Kamaraj | Bhubaneshwar | 1964 | – |
| 72 | K. Kamaraj | Durgapur | 1965 | – |
History of Indian National Congress Session
The Indian National Congress (INC), which was founded in 1885, quickly rose to prominence as one of the country’s most significant political organizations before independence. In 1885, the first meeting of the Indian National Congress took place.
A party of commoners having notable leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lajpat Rai, Gandhi, Nehru, Bose, etc. as members, it began as an organization made up only of the intellectual elite in India.
- At Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Mumbai on December 28, 1885, the Indian National Congress was established by 72 delegates (then Bombay);
- Allan Octavian Hume, a former Indian Civil Services Officer, started it;
- The Congress was established with the goal of fostering a climate that would allow for polite dialogue between Indians and the British;
- The only educated Indians were those who participated in Congress;
- The British could obtain support for their rule in India through Congress;
- This was made feasible because educated Indians were more receptive to modernization ideas and could therefore influence other Indians;
- The General Secretary of the Congress was Allan Octavian Hume, and the President of the Congress was Womesh Chunder Banerjee;
- As years moved by, some Congress members became inspired by the Swadeshi movement and desired to adhere to the idea of “home rule”;
- Mahatma Gandhi converted the Congress from an exclusive to a people-centered party after being elected president in 1919, despite opposition;
- Many concerns, including caste inequality, the healthcare system, illiteracy, and the Purdah regime, were solved with Mahatma Gandhi’s assistance;
- The Quit India Movement, the establishment of the Indian National Army Defense Committee, and the regrettable Partition of India and Pakistan were all events that the Congress witnessed at the end of British rule.
Indian National Congress Sessions UPSC
The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded in 1885 and it advanced to evolve into one of the most substantial political parties in India before independence. Candidates can download the PDF to learn INC or Indian National Congress Session list and details about the Indian National Congress President list. INC sessions topic comes under the History syllabus for UPSC Prelims, Mains General Studies – 1, and History Optional.
IAS aspirants preparing for the Indian National Congress Sessions UPSC topic must carefully study the UPSC syllabus for a better insight into the examination and outline the preparation strategy accordingly.
Indian National Congress Sessions MCQs
Question: Where was the first Congress Session in Bihar held? (a) Darbhanga, (b) Muzaffarpur, (c) Gaya, (d) Patna
Answer: Patna
Question: Who was the president of the Indian National Congress during the Lucknow Session in 1916? (a) Lala Lajpat Rai, (b) Aurobindo Ghosh, (c) Dadabhai Naoroji, (d) Ambica Charan Mazumdar
Answer: Ambica Charan Mazumdar
Question: Which session of INC passed the famous 4 resolutions, namely – swaraj, swadeshi, Boycott and National Educations? (a) 1929 Lahore session, (b) 1919 Amritsar session, (c) 1906 Calcutta session, (d) 1920 Calcutta session, (e) None of the above/ More than one of the above
Answer: 1906 Calcutta session
Question: With reference to Congress annual sessions, consider the following statements: (1) Sarojini Naidu is the first woman to preside in the Congress session, (2) Gandhiji presided over the congress session of 1924 at Belgaum, (3) Dadabhai Naoroji was elected thrice as the president of Congress. Which of the statements is/ are correct? (a) 2 and 3 only, (b) 1 and 2 only, (c) 1, 2 and 3, (d) 1 and 3 only, (e) None of the above/ More than one of the above
Answer: 2 and 3 only (Dadabhai Naoroji was elected thrice as the president of Congress, Gandhiji presided over the congress session of 1924 at Belgaum).
