Indian National Congress (INC) was formed in 1885 by Allan Octavian Hume, a British retired ICS officer who settled in
Shimla. A.O. Hume was the first general secretary of Congress Party. The name "Indian National Congress" was given by Dadabhai Naoroji.
INC was India's first national level political movement, whose initial aim was to involve more Indians in the governance of the country. Its
goal then expanded to achieve complete independence. After Indian independence, it became one of the major political parties in the country.
Political Associations before Indian National Congress
There were many political associations and organisations that were formed during India's freedom struggle before the Indian National
Congress was born.
- Madras Native Association - It was founded in 1852 and the founder was Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty.
- Bombay Association - It was founded in 1852 and the founders were Naoroji Furdunji, Dr. Bhau Daji, Jagannath Shankar Sheth and Dadabhai Naoroji.
- Indian Association or Indian National Association - It was founded in 1876 at Calcutta and the founders were Anand Mohan Bose and Surendra Nath
Banerjee.
- Bombay Presidency Association - It was founded in 1885 and the founders were Pherozeshah Mehta, Badruddin Tyabji and K.T. Telang.
- Madras Mahajana Sabha - It was being founded in 1884. The founders of this association were P. Rangaiah Naidu, S.Ramaswami Mudaliar, P. Anandacharlu,
M. Veeraraghavachariar and G. Subramania Iyer. G. Subramania Iyer was the founder of the newspaper "The Hindu".
- East India Association - It was founded in 1866 in London and was founded by Dadabhai Naoroji.
Formation of Indian National Congress
In 1883, A. O. Hume had written an open letter to the graduates of Calcutta University regarding his idea of having a body for educated
Indians for demanding more share in the government and also a platform to initiate and sustain dialogue between educated Indians and the
British government.
During the formation of INC, Lord Dufferin was the Governor General and Lord Cross was the Secretary of State. For the first session of INC,
A. O. Hume obtained permission from Lord Dufferin. Initially, it was thought to be held at Pune but due to the outbreak of cholera in Pune,
it was moved to Bombay. So, the first session of INC was held at Bombay on 28th December 1885 and continued till 31 December.
Congress party will have an annual session in the month of December to discuss various issues. When there is an urgency, it can go for
special session. There will be President election in each annual session and his tenure will be 1 year.
The first session of INC was held in Bombay in 1885 and the first president of Indian National Congress was W.C. Banerjee. The 2nd
session of INC was held in 1886 in Calcutta and the second president of Indian National Congress was Dadabhai Naoroji.
The 3rd session
was held in 1887 in Madras and the president of this session was Badruddin Tyabji. The fourth session was held in 1888 in Allahabad and the
president of this session was George Yule. The Britishers, who became the presidents of INC were George Yule, William Wedderburn and Henry
Cotton. Demand for Independence by the Congress party was started in 1929.
Phases of Indian National Congress during Freedom Struggle
During the struggle for independence, depending on the form of freedom struggle, we can divide the Congress party into 3 phases.
| Period |
Leadership |
Goal |
Means Adopted |
Social Base |
| 1885- 1905
| Moderates or early Nationalists
Dominion status
Constitutional methods, Political begging system
| Upper classes of urban area
| | | |
| 1905- 1920
| Extremists or Militant Nationalists
| Swaraj
| Swadeshi, Passive Resistance
| Middle classes of urban areas
| | |
| 1920- 1947
| Mahatma Gandhi
| Sam-poorna Swaraj (Independence)
Satyagraha
| Mass and lower class (Grassroots level mobilization)
| | |
Moderate Phase of Indian National Congress
- The main Moderate leaders were Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta, Anand Mohan Bose, Surendra Nath Banerjee, Badruddin Tyabji,
Mahadev Govind Ranade, Rash Behari Ghosh, etc.
- They demanded dominion status which means allowing the local people in administration. They also demanded the Government to spread
Western education in India, development of modern industry, liberal constitutional reforms and Indian representation in political and public services.
- They adopted Constitutional methods while demanding. They never took the law into their hands. They expressed their propaganda through press.
They followed
3 P's system i.e. Prayers, Petitions and Protests. They never wanted mass movement.
- Journals started by Moderate leaders were 'Voice of India' newspaper by Dadabhai Nauroji, 'The Bengalee' by S.N. Banerjee, 'Bombay Chronicle' by
Pherozeshah Mehta and 'Sudharak' by Gopal Krishna Gokhale.
Extremist Phase of Indian National Congress
The main leaders of Extremist phase were
- Bal Gangadhar Tilak -
- He came from Chitpavan Brahmin family of Pune. He was also known as Lokmanya. When the 'Age of Consent Act' was passed in the year 1891, it was criticized
by Tilak (he was the first man to condemn the Act).
- He started "Akhadas" (Gyms or health clubs). Hindu youth were given training and were asked to fight against cow killers. In 1893, he started Ganesh
festivals. In 1895, he started Shivaji Festivals.
- He started journals like Kesari (in Marathi language) and Mahratta (in English). In 1896, he started "No Tax Campaign" in Poona.
British author, Chiroll
wrote a book called "Indian Unrest" in which he described Tilak as "Father of Indian Unrest".
- In the year 1908, he was arrested and sent to the Mandalay jail in Burma for 6 years. In 1914, he was released as a full-fledged moderate.
He redefined
Swaraj as Swaraj within British Raj. He wrote books like 'Geeta Rahasya' and 'The Arctic Home in the Vedas'.
- Lala Lajpati Rai -
- He is known as Lion of Punjab.
- He started two journals 'The Punjabee' and 'The People' and wrote a book "Unhappy India".
- Bipin Chandra Pal -
- He was a leader from Bengal.
- He started journals like New India, Bande Mataram, Paridarshak and Swaraj (founded in London).
- Aurobindo Ghose -
- He was a politician turned Swamiji.
- He started journals like Arya (devotional journal). He wrote many books like Life Divine, New Lamps for Old, Savitri (largest epic in English literature)
- Sardar Ajit Singh -
- He was the uncle of Bhagat Singh. He started organizations called Bharat Mata Society and Anjuman-i-Mohisban-i-Watan. He started a journal called Peshwa.
- He was a Congress leader having contacts with revolutionaries. For more than 35 years he was away from India and came to India after independence and passed
away on the same day.
Forms of Struggle
- Swadeshi - Swadeshi concept was developed by Aurobindo Ghosh. Its objective was to boycott of British goods and the British Institutions (offices).
Aurobindo Ghosh describes Swadeshi as "organized refusal and make the administration impossible".
- Passive Resistance - It was also developed by Aurobindo Ghose. Its objective was non Active resistance. For example, forming queues to resist lathi
charge, etc.
The Gandhian phase of Indian National Congress is to be studied
separately as Mahatma Gandhi was involved in many national movements, which culminated in getting independence for India.
Quiz
- Who is the first president of Indian National Congress?
- Allan Octavian Hume
- Dadabhai Naoroji
- Badruddin Tyabji
- Womesh Chandra Banerjee
Answer
Ans: D
- Who was the governor general of India during the formation of Indian National Congress?
- Lord Ripon
- Lord Dufferin
- Lord Lytton
- Lord Lansdowne
Answer
Ans: B
