1. Background and Factors Leading to Formation
- Rise of Political Consciousness: In the second half of the 19th century, a modern Indian intelligentsia emerged—including lawyers, journalists, government servants, doctors, and teachers—who began spreading ideas of democracy, civil rights, and nationhood across India.
- Precursor Associations: Before the founding of the INC, regional bodies emerged to voice grievances:
- Madras Native Association (1852)
- British Indian Association (1851, Bengal)
- Bombay Association (1852, Dadabhai Naoroji)
- East India Association (1866, London)
- Poona Sarvajanik Sabha (1870, M.G. Ranade)
- Indian Association (1876, founded by Surendranath Banerjee)
- Madras Mahajana Sabha (May 1884; established by P. Rangaiah Naidu, P. Anandacharlu, G. Subramaniam, and others, later amalgamating its efforts with the INC)
- Indian National Conference (1883, convened by Surendranath Banerjee, merged with the INC in 1886)
- Catalysts and Agitations (1875–1885): Discontent with colonial policies was sparked by issues like the campaign for cotton import duties (1875), calls for Indianisation of civil services (1877), protests against the Vernacular Press Act and Arms Act (1878), and agitation surrounding the Ilbert Bill (1883).
- Need for an All-India Platform: Leaders recognized that sporadic and isolated protests lacked impact on imperial policy without a unified, central organization.
2. Foundation and Early Sessions
- Idea Genesis: In December 1884, Allan Octavian Hume (a retired British ICS officer) presided over a meeting of the Theosophical Society in Madras, where the idea of establishing an all-India political body took shape.
- First Session:
- Date and Venue: Held on 28 December 1885 in Bombay.
- First President: W.C. Bonnerjee (Womash Chandra Banarjee).
- Attendance: Attended by 72 delegates from across the country.
- Key Attendees: Included Dadabhai Naoroji, Surendranath Banerjee, Mahadev Govind Ranade, Pherozeshah Mehta, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Madan Mohan Malaviya, and G. Subramania Iyer (who moved the very first resolution).
- Foundational Composition: About one-third of the initial members were journalists.
- Subsequent Early Sessions:
- Second Session (1886): Held in Calcutta (where Viceroy Lord Dufferin hosted a garden party for the members).
- Third Session (1887): Held in Madras under the presidency of Badruddin Tyabji. In this session, an attempt by some members to introduce a resolution making cow killing a penal offense was rejected by the leadership to maintain secular character and reassure minorities.
3. Early Objectives, Demands, and Methods (Moderate Phase: 1885–1905)
- Core Missions:
- To foster national unity and weld diverse peoples into a single nation.
- To act as a common platform for political workers from all parts of India.
- To remain loyal to the British crown while seeking administrative, financial, and political concessions within a constitutional framework.
- Specific Demands:
- Constitutional & Representation: Expansion and reform of Legislative Councils at both provincial and central levels; increased proportion of elected non-official members.
- Administrative: Holding the Indian Civil Service (ICS) examination simultaneously in India and England; raising the recruitment age limit; appointment of Indians to higher posts.
- Judicial: Complete separation of executive and judicial functions; expansion of trial by jury.
- Economic & Financial: Reduction of land revenue and military expenditure; curtailment of Home Charges; reduction of taxes; elimination of unfair internal excise duties and tariffs on Indian goods; protection of peasants from zamindari exploitation.
- Civil Rights: Protection of freedom of the press and speech; right of association; abolition of the Indian Council in London; review of forest laws; police reforms; educational expansion.
- Methods of the Moderates:
- Relied entirely on constitutional mechanisms: appeals, petitions, memorandums, leaflets, pamphlets, resolutions, and sending deputations to Britain.
- These cautious, non-violent tactics were critically termed “Political Mendicancy” by radical leaders.
- Key Achievements of the Moderate Era:
- Built an indigenous anti-colonial ideology and awakened national consciousness.
- Popularized ideas of representative democracy and civil liberties.
- Economic Critique & Drain Theory: Formulated primarily by Dadabhai Naoroji (in Poverty and Un-British Rule in India), Justice Ranade, and Romesh Chandra Dutt. Demonstrated how resources were drained via Home Charges, pensions, troop expenses, and profits without fair return, leading to the appointment of the Welby Commission.
- Legislative Concession: Influenced the British Parliament to pass the Indian Councils Act of 1892, which enlarged legislative councils and permitted discussion on the budget.
4. Ideological Factionalism and the Surat Split (1905–1907)
- Rise of Militant Nationalists (Extremists):
- Led by the Lal-Bal-Pal triumvirate—Lala Lajpat Rai (Punjab), Bal Gangadhar Tilak (Maharashtra), Bipin Chandra Pal (Bengal)—and Aurobindo Ghose.
- Disillusioned with moderate methods and British intransigence, they advocated direct mass action, swadeshi, national education, and passive resistance.
- Redefined political goals toward Swaraj (self-rule / political independence).
- Partition of Bengal (1905) & Swadeshi Movement:
- Lord Curzon partitioned Bengal in 1905, triggering intense nationwide opposition.
- In the 1906 Calcutta session (presided over by Dadabhai Naoroji to prevent a split), four resolutions were adopted under militant pressure: Swadeshi, Boycott, National Education, and Self-Government (Swaraj).
- Surat Split (1907):
- The venue for the 1907 session was shifted from Poona (a militant bastion) to Surat by the moderates led by Pherozeshah Mehta.
- Militants proposed Lala Lajpat Rai for President, while moderates backed Rash Behari Ghosh. Rai stepped aside to prevent a clash, but conflict arose over whether to retain the four 1906 Calcutta resolutions.
- The session dissolved in chaos, splitting the Congress into moderates and militants.
- The post-split organization (known as the “Mehta Congress”) reaffirmed loyalty to the British, while the extremists were excluded and severely targeted by colonial prosecution and imprisonment.
5. Reunion and the Lucknow Pact (1916)
- Constitutional Amendment (1915): At the December 1915 Bombay session, through efforts by Tilak and Annie Besant, the INC altered its rules to allow the readmission of the extremist wing.
- Reunion at Lucknow (1916):
- Presided over by Ambika Charan Mazumdar, who hailed the return of the extremists after ten years of separation.
- Working in tandem with Annie Besant’s and Tilak’s Home Rule Leagues, the reunited Congress revitalized the nationalist movement.
- The Lucknow Pact (1916):
- An agreement made between the INC and the All India Muslim League (with Muhammad Ali Jinnah as chief architect).
- Provisions:
- Broadening legislative franchise; ensuring 4/5ths of central and provincial legislative councils were elected and 1/5th nominated.
- Half of executive council members were to be elected Indians.
- The INC officially conceded separate electorates for Muslims and weightage in provincial councils.
- Bound central and provincial governments to act in accordance with council resolutions unless vetoed.
- Demanded equal status for India with British Dominions.
- Calcutta Session (1917): Dr. Annie Besant, after being released from detention, was elected President of the Calcutta INC session in 1917.
6. Special Sessions and Reorientation (1918–1920)
- Response to Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms (1918):
- A special session was convened in Bombay in August 1918 to discuss the constitutional proposals, resolving that the scheme was “disappointing and unsatisfactory”.
- Moderates who favoured accepting the reforms, led by Surendranath Banerjee, broke away from the Congress to establish the Indian Liberal Federation.
- Launch of the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920):
- Calcutta Special Session (September 1920): Approved Mahatma Gandhi’s proposal for non-violent non-cooperation to protest the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the Khilafat wrongs, and to demand Swaraj.
- Nagpur Regular Session (December 1920):
- Formally ratified the Non-Cooperation resolution.
- Reorganized the Congress organizational structure along linguistic lines by creating Provincial Congress Committees (PCCs).
- Broadened the social base by reducing the annual membership fee to four annas (25 paise) to draw in peasants and rural masses, transforming the Congress from an elite assembly into a mass nationalist party.
7. Swarajists vs. No-Changers (1922–1923)
- Suspension of Non-Cooperation: Following the Chauri Chaura incident in February 1922, Gandhi suspended the movement; this was ratified by the Congress Working Committee at Bardoli.
- Internal Split:
- Pro-Changers (Swarajists): Led by Motilal Nehru and C.R. Das (with S. Satyamurti in Madras), they advocated council entry to obstruct imperial functioning from within the legislatures under the 1919 Act.
- No-Changers: Led by C. Rajagopalachari, Vallabhbhai Patel, and Rajendra Prasad, they opposed electoral politics and advocated constructive work (spinning khadi, promoting temperance, removal of untouchability, and Hindu-Muslim unity).
- Formation of Swaraj Party (1 January 1923):
- Formed as a separate wing within the Congress, later approved at a special Congress session.
- Secured substantial representation in the Central Assembly (winning 42 of 101 elected seats) and provincial councils before weakening after C.R. Das died in 1925.
8. Purna Swaraj and the Civil Disobedience Phase (1927–1934)
- Boycott of the Simon Commission (1927): At the Madras session in December 1927, the Congress unanimously resolved to boycott the all-white Simon Commission.
- The Nehru Report (1928): Drafted by an all-party committee headed by Motilal Nehru; advocated dominion status, fundamental rights, provincial autonomy, and joint electorates with reservation for minorities.
- Calcutta Session (1928): Selected Jawaharlal Nehru to succeed his father as President for the upcoming session.
- Historic Lahore Session (December 1929):
- Presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru.
- Officially adopted Purna Swaraj (Complete Independence) as the goal of the Congress.
- Hoisted the tricolor flag of freedom on 31 December 1929 along the banks of the Ravi.
- Declared 26 January 1930 to be observed nationwide as Independence Day.
- Authorized Gandhi to initiate the Civil Disobedience Movement.
- Round Table Conferences & Agreements (1930–1932):
- Congress boycotted the First Round Table Conference (1930).
- Gandhi-Irwin Pact (March 1931): Signed to suspend civil disobedience and enable Congress participation in the Second Round Table Conference.
- Gandhi attended the Second Round Table Conference in London (1931) as the sole representative of the Congress.
- Karachi Session (March 1931): Presided over by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel; ratified the Gandhi-Irwin Pact and adopted pioneering resolutions on Fundamental Rights and Duties and the National Economic Programme, heavily shaped by Gandhian principles and Jawaharlal Nehru’s socialist vision.
- Poona Pact (1932): After Gandhi undertook a fast-unto-death in Yerwada jail against the Communal Award’s provision for separate electorates for depressed classes, an agreement was reached with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar replacing separate electorates with reserved seats in joint electorates.
- Civil Disobedience resumed in 1932, leading to the banning of the Congress, before being suspended in 1933 and officially withdrawn in May 1934.
9. Provincial Ministries under Government of India Act 1935 (1937–1939)
- 1937 Elections: Although critical of the limitations in the Government of India Act 1935, the Congress contested elections and formed ministries in seven of the eleven provinces (and emerged as the largest party in three others).
- Internal Ideological Regulations: In December 1938, the Congress Working Committee resolved that membership in communal organizations like the Hindu Mahasabha or RSS was a disqualification for remaining in the Congress.
- Resignation (1939): In October/November 1939, following the outbreak of World War II, the British Viceroy (Lord Linlithgow) declared India a belligerent without consulting the provincial ministries; in protest, all Congress ministries resigned.
10. The Final Phase of Freedom Struggle (1940–1947)
- Rejection of the August Offer (1940): Viceroy Linlithgow offered Dominion status at an unspecified future date, expansion of the Executive Council, and a post-war constitution-making body; the INC rejected this offer.
- Individual Satyagraha (1940–1941): Launched by Gandhi to assert free speech against participation in the war; Acharya Vinoba Bhave was the first satyagrahi, followed by Jawaharlal Nehru.
- Rejection of the Cripps Mission (March 1942): Sir Stafford Cripps offered post-war Dominion status and provincial options to secede; rejected by the Congress, with Gandhi calling it a “post-dated cheque”.
- Quit India Movement (August 1942):
- The All India Congress Committee met in Bombay on 8 August 1942 and passed the Quit India Resolution.
- Gandhi delivered the slogan “Do or Die”.
- Top leadership (Gandhi, Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, and CWC members) were arrested on 8–9 August, triggering an unguided mass uprising, strikes, and parallel administrations across the subcontinent.
- Cabinet Mission & Interim Government (1946):
- The Cabinet Mission (Pethick-Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps, A.V. Alexander) proposed a three-tier federation and an Interim Government.
- In July 1946 elections for the Constituent Assembly, the Congress secured 205 of the 214 general seats.
- On 2 September 1946, an Interim Government was formed headed by Jawaharlal Nehru.
- Mountbatten Plan and Independence (1947):
- Lord Mountbatten’s June 3 Plan proposed the partition of India into two dominions; both the Congress and the Muslim League accepted.
- The British Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act in July 1947, and on 15 August 1947, India achieved independence, with Jawaharlal Nehru taking office as its first Prime Minister and Dr. Rajendra Prasad later becoming President of the Republic.
