Indian National Congress

1. Establishment and Early Years (1885–1905): The Moderate Phase

Establishment: 28 December 1885, at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, Bombay.
Founder: A.O. Hume (Retired British officer), with active involvement of Indian leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji, W.C. Bonnerjee, Dinshaw Wacha, Pherozeshah Mehta.
First President: W.C. Bonnerjee.

Initial Objectives:

To develop a feeling of national unity and brotherhood among Indians.
To provide a platform for the political training of educated Indians.
To present public opinion before the government through constitutional means (petitions, memorials, delegations).
To demand administrative reforms (raising the age limit for civil services exam, expansion of legislative councils).
To oppose economic exploitation (Drain of Wealth theory).

Prominent Leaders: Dadabhai Naoroji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta, Surendranath Banerjee, M.G. Ranade.

Safety Valve Theory: This controversial theory states that Hume established the Congress as a "safety valve" for the British Government to prevent violent rebellion by channeling Indian discontent into a constitutional outlet.

Important Sessions:

1906 (Calcutta): Dadabhai Naoroji (President). First use of the word "Swaraj" (self-rule under British dominion). Resolutions on Swadeshi, boycott, national education, and self-government passed.
1907 (Surat): Split. Ras Bihari Ghosh (President). Dominance of extremists.
1916 (Lucknow): A.C. Mazumdar (President). Lucknow Pact between Congress and Muslim League (agreement on communal electorates).
1920 (Calcutta): Lala Lajpat Rai (President). Proposal for Non-Cooperation Movement passed.
1920 (Nagpur): C. Vijayaraghavacharya (President). Constitutional changes: Formation of Provincial Congress Committees, Working Committee established, membership fee set at 4 annas (25 paisa). Gandhi’s non-cooperation program endorsed.
1929 (Lahore): Jawaharlal Nehru (President). Declaration of “Poorna Swaraj” (complete independence). Decision to celebrate 26 January 1930 as Independence Day. Preparation for Civil Disobedience Movement.
1931 (Karachi): Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (President). Supported Gandhi-Irwin Pact. Resolution passed on Fundamental Rights and National Economic Program (foundation of future constitution).
1938 (Haripura): Subhas Chandra Bose (President). Formation of National Planning Committee (Nehru as chairman).
1939 (Tripuri): Subhas Chandra Bose (President). Re-elected despite Gandhi’s opposition. Resigned after disputes. Rajendra Prasad became president.

Internal Differences:

Subhas Chandra Bose vs. Gandhians (1939): Disagreement over immediate struggle against the government.
Rise of Socialist Ideology: Formation of Congress Socialist Party (CSP) in 1934 by Acharya Narendra Dev and Jayaprakash Narayan.

Important Sessions for Prelims

Year	Location	President	Significance
1885	Bombay	W.C. Bonnerjee	72 delegates attended the first session
1886	Calcutta	Dadabhai Naoroji	Joint session of Congress and National Conference
1887	Madras	Syed Badruddin Tyabji	Appeal for unity among Muslims
1888	Allahabad	George Yule	First English President
1889	Bombay	Sir William Wedderburn	–
1890	Calcutta	Pherozeshah Mehta	–
1891	Nagpur	P. Ananda Charlu	–
1892	Allahabad	W.C. Bonnerjee	–
1893	Lahore	Dadabhai Naoroji	–
1894	Madras	Alfred Webb	–
1895	Poona	Surendranath Banerjee	–
1896	Calcutta	Rahimtulla M. Sayani	‘Vande Mataram’ sung for the first time
1897	Amravati	C. Sankaran Nair	–
1898	Madras	Anand Mohan Bose	–
1899	Lucknow	Romesh Chandra Dutt	–
1900	Lahore	N.G. Chandavarkar	–
1901	Calcutta	Dinshaw E. Wacha	–
1902	Ahmedabad	Surendranath Banerjee	–
1903	Madras	Lal Mohan Ghosh	–
1904	Bombay	Sir Henry Cotton	–
1905	Benaras	Gopal Krishna Gokhale	Against Bengal partition
1906	Calcutta	Dadabhai Naoroji	Use of the word 'Swaraj'
1907	Surat	Ras Bihari Ghosh	Split between Moderates and Extremists
1908	Madras	Ras Bihari Ghosh	Continuation of previous session
1909	Lahore	Madan Mohan Malaviya	Indian Councils Act 1909
1910	Allahabad	Sir William Wedderburn	–
1911	Calcutta	Bishan Narayan Dhar	‘Jana Gana Mana’ sung for the first time
1912	Bankipur	Raghunath Narasinha Mudholkar	–
1913	Karachi	Syed Mohammad	–
1914	Madras	Bhupendra Nath Basu	–
1915	Bombay	Satyendra Prasanna Sinha	–
1916	Lucknow	Ambika Charan Mazumdar	Lucknow Pact
1917	Calcutta	Annie Besant	First woman President
1918	Bombay & Delhi	Syed Hasan Imam, Madan Mohan Malaviya	Two sessions held
1919	Amritsar	Motilal Nehru	Condemnation of Jallianwala Bagh massacre
1920	Nagpur	C. Vijayaraghavacharya	–
1921	Ahmedabad	Hakim Ajmal Khan	–
1922	Gaya	C.R. Das	–
1923	Kakinada	Maulana Mohammad Ali	–
1924	Belgaum	Mahatma Gandhi	Chaired by Gandhi
1925	Kanpur	Sarojini Naidu	First Indian woman President
1926	Guwahati	S. Srinivasa Iyengar	–
1927	Madras	M.A. Ansari	–
1928	Calcutta	Motilal Nehru	Formation of All India Youth Congress
1929	Lahore	Jawaharlal Nehru	Resolution of ‘Poorna Swaraj’
1930	–	–	No session
1931	Karachi	Vallabhbhai Patel	Fundamental Rights & Gandhi-Irwin Pact
1932	Delhi	Amrit Ranchhoddas Seth	–
1933	Calcutta	Nellie Sengupta	Presided by Nellie Sengupta
1934	Bombay	Rajendra Prasad	–
1936	Faizpur	Jawaharlal Nehru	First rural session
1937	Lucknow	Jawaharlal Nehru	–
1938	Haripura	Subhas Chandra Bose	National Planning Committee formed
1939	Tripuri	Subhas Chandra Bose	Bose resigned, Rajendra Prasad appointed
1940	Ramgarh	Abul Kalam Azad	–
1941–45	–	–	No sessions due to leaders' imprisonment
1946	Meerut	Acharya Kripalani	Last session before independence
1948	Jaipur	Pattabhi Sitaramayya	First session after independence

Prelims Special Sessions

Event/Session	Year	Location	President	Key Points
Establishment	1885	Bombay	W.C. Bonnerjee	Role of A.O. Hume, Safety Valve Theory
Merger	1886	Calcutta	Dadabhai Naoroji	Merger of Indian National Association into Congress
Poona Session	1895	Poona	Surendranath Banerjee	First singing of national song ‘Vande Mataram’
Swaraj Proposal	1906	Calcutta	Dadabhai Naoroji	First use of the word ‘Swaraj’
Surat Split	1907	Surat	Ras Bihari Ghosh	Split between Moderates and Extremists
Lucknow Pact	1916	Lucknow	A.C. Mazumdar	Congress-Muslim League unity, communal electorates
Nagpur Session	1920	Nagpur	C. Vijayaraghavacharya	New constitution, endorsement of Non-Cooperation Movement
Poorna Swaraj	1929	Lahore	Jawaharlal Nehru	Declaration of complete independence, 26 Jan as Independence Day
Karachi Session	1931	Karachi	Vallabhbhai Patel	Gandhi-Irwin Pact supported, Resolution on Fundamental Rights
Haripura Session	1938	Haripura	Subhas Chandra Bose	Formation of National Planning Committee
Tripuri Crisis	1939	Tripuri	Subhas Chandra Bose	Re-elected despite Gandhi’s opposition, later resigned

Important to Remember:

First Woman President: Dr. Annie Besant (Calcutta Session, 1917)
First Indian Woman President: Sarojini Naidu (Kanpur, 1925