A timeline of Congress history

 

The Foundation Years • Demand for equitable government through administrative reforms • Concern for the removal of poverty • Resolutions deploring: The growing impoverishment of the people; The wealth of the country being drained away; The condition of the ryots steadily deteriorating since 1848 – nearly 40 million people having only one meal a day and sometimes not even that. • Annual sessions of the Congress party held in different venues every year. • Provincial conferences organised to foster countrywide involvement. • Concrete steps taken to organise public opinion in Great Britian in favour of the Indian viewpoint. • Thrust on seeking representation in government. • Madan Mohan Malaviya – ‘No taxation without representation’.
Events	Sessions	Venues	Presidents
	1885	Bombay	W.C. Bonnerjee
	1886	Calcutta	Dadabhai Naoroji
	1887	Madras	Badruddin Tyabji
	1888	Allahabad	George Yule
July 1889: Formation of British Committee of the Indian National Congress with offices in London to put pressure on Parliament in Great Britain.	1889	Bombay	Sir William Wedderburn
	1890	Calcutta	Sir Pherozeshah Mehta
	1891	Nagpur	P. Ananda Charlu
1892: Dadabhai Naoroji elected to British Parliament.	1892	Allahabad	W.C. Bonnerjee
India Councils Act a major victory for Congress, but it still did not envisage elected representation.	1893	Lahore	Dadabhai Naoroji
	1894	Madras	Alfred Webb
Consolidation and Beyond • Demand for fiscal responsibility • Demand for Indianisation of services • Protest against economic emasculation • Government insensitive to natural disasters – famine, plague, floods • Lokmanya Tilak works for the famine affected populace of Pune – accused of inciting violence by his writings in ‘Kesari’ – imprisoned • The Curzon Vice Royalty – many repressive measures • Sedition Act curbing the elementary liberties of the people • Official Secrets Act with burden of proof of innocence shifted onto the accused • Protest against proposed Partition of Bengal along communal lines.
	1895	Pune	Surendranath Bannerjee
1896: Resolution blaming the British for creating famines.	1896	Calcutta	Rahimtulla M. Sayani
	1897	Amravati	C. Sankaran Nair
	1898	Madras	Ananda Mohan Bose
1899: First party constitution framed.	1899	Lucknow	Romesh Chander Dutta
1900: British reaction to growing Congress movement – curb availability of education to Indians; universities act seeks to limit spread of English education.	1900	Lahore	N.G. Chandavarkar
1901: Mahatma Gandhi appears on the Congress platform for the first time seeking support for the struggle in South Africa.	1901	Calcutta	Sir Dinshaw Eduljee Wacha
	1902	Ahmedabad	Surendranath Bannerjee
	1903	Madras	Lalmohan Ghosh
	1904	Bombay	Sir Henry Cotton
Demand for Self-government • Reaction to the Curzon regime • Widespread protests against the Partition of Bengal, blatantly promoted by Lord Curzon as the creation of a Muslim enclave • Confrontation between the moderates in the Congress seeking change through constitutional means and peaceful agitation and the extremist younger elements seeking change through violence if necessary.
	1905	Benaras	Gopal Krishna Gokhale
1906: Demand for Swaraj, boycott of British goods.	1906	Calcutta	Dadabhai Naoroji
1907: First split in Congress between moderates and extremists – the moderates retain control of the organisation.	1907	Surat	Rashbihari Ghosh
	1908	Madras	Rashbihari Ghosh
1909: Minto-Morley reforms creating the India Councils gave representation, but also gave inpetus to the virus of communalism by providing for separate electorates. 1909: First signs of strain in Hindu-Muslim relations.	1909	Lahore	Madan Mohan Malaviya
	1910	Allahabad	Sir William Wedderburn
1911: The Partition of Bengal is annulled.	1911	Calcutta	Bishan Narayan Dar
	1912	Bankipur	R.N. Mudholkar
	1913	Karachi	Nawab Syed Mohd. Bahadur
	1914	Madras	Bhupendra Nath Bose
The Foundations of Independent India • The Home Rule movement • The advent of Gandhi • The Khilafat movement • The Non-cooperation movement.
	1915	Bombay	Lord S.P. Sinha
1916: Lucknow Pact between the Congress and the Muslim League.	1916	Lucknow	Ambica Charan Mazumdar
1917: Proposal for a Congress flag (later to become the national tricolour). 1917: Principle of linguisitic division accepted – foundation for the eventual creation of states by linguistic identity. 1917: Gandhiji introduces satyagraha as a potent weapon of political protest in Champaran.	1917	Calcutta	Annie Besant
1918: Satyagraha in Gujarat successful.	1918	Bombay	Syed Hasan Imam
	1918	Delhi	Madan Mohan Malaviya
1919: Jallianwala Bagh massacre.	1919	Amritsar	Motilal Nehru
1920: Khilafat movement.	1920	Calcutta	Lala Lajpat Rai
1920: Gandhiji tours the country to organise the Non-cooperation movement. 1920: The Congress becomes a mass movement. 1920: The country united under Mahatma Gandhi.	1920	Nagpur	C. Vijayaraghavachariar
	1921	Ahmedabad	Hakim Ajmal Khan
1922: Gandhiji arrested.	1922	Gaya	Deshbandhu C.R. Das
	1923	Kakinada	Maulana Mohd. Ali
	1923	Delhi	Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
1924: Gandhiji’s 21 day fast against communal disturbances.	1924	Belgaum	Mahatma Gandhi
The Demand for Complete Independence • Gandhi-Irwin Pact • Definition of fundamental rights.
1925: Adoption of Hindi as the official language for the AICC sessions.	1925	Kanpur	Sarojini Naidu
1926: Announcement of Simon Commission for proposing constitutional reforms for India.	1926	Gauhati	S. Srinivasa Iyengar
1927: Resolution boycotting the Simon Commission.	1927	Madras	Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari
1928: Successful all-India hartal on arrival of Simon Commission. 1928: All party committee appointed under Motilal Nehru to draft a constitution for independent India. 1928: Bardoli satyagraha successful under Sardar Patel.	1928	Calcutta	Motilal Nehru
1929: Irwin-Gandhi talks.	1929	Lahore	Jawaharlal Nehru
1929: Resolution demanding complete independence.
1930: Adoption of 26 January as ‘purna swaraj day’. 1930: Call for civil disobedience. 1930: Salt satyagraha – Dandi march. 1930: All major Congress leaders arrested. 1930: AICC Working Committee declared unlawful body. 1930: Congress opposition to Round Table conference.	1930
1931: Fundamental rights defined. 1931: AICC Working Committee members released – Congress invited by Viceroy to join deliberations for the future of India. 1931: Gandhi authorised to negotiate on behalf of the Congress. 1931: Gandhi-Irwin Pact. 1931-32: Repression by the British and resumption of the struggle. Gandhiji arrested.	1931	Karachi	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
1932: Poona agreement guaranteeing reserved seats for the Scheduled Castes and Tribes.	1932	Delhi	Madan Mohan Malaviya
1933: Gandhiji on fast for 21 days for the cause of the Harijans.	1933	Calcutta	Nellie Sengupta
1934: Gandhiji withdraws from the Congress. 1934: Congress constitution amended to make non-violence and khadi its fundamental creeds.	1934	Bombay	Rajendra Prasad
The Final Stage • The demand for immediate freedom • Mass satyagraha
1935: The Government of India Act. 1935: Gandhiji decides to concentrate on social reform. 1935: Congress condemns the new Constitution but decides to contest elections.	1935	Lucknow	Jawaharlal Nehru
1936: Nehru’s presidential address condemns fascism.	1936	Faizpur	Jawaharlal Nehru
1937: Congress wins elections in 5 out of 9 provinces.	1937
	1938	Haripura	Subhas Chandra Bose
1939: Resignation of Congress ministries and withdrawal from the legislative process. 1939: Demand for a constituent assembly to be elected by universal franchise.	1939	Tripura	Subhas Chandra Bose
1940: Non-cooperation in the war effort. 1940: Call for a national government.	1940	Ramgarh	Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
	1941
1942: 9 August 1942 Quit India Resolution. 1942: Mass arrests leading to All-India public protests.	1942
1943-44: Allied victories in the War leading to intransigent British position. 1943-44: Gandhiji and Congress leaders released from prison but British refuse to negotiate.	1943
1943-44: Jinnah adamant on Partition.	1944
1945: Simla conference fails.	1945
1946: INA trials. 1946: Naval mutiny. 1946: Cabinet Mission to decide fate of India. 1946: Congress wins an overwhelming majority in elections to the Constitutional Assembly. 1946: Muslim League decides to withdraw and press for the creation of Pakistan, 16 August chosen as direct action day. 1946: Violence in Bengal – 6000 killed. 1946: Congress and Muslim League join interim government. 1946: Jinnah still adamant.	1946	Meerut	Acharya J.B. Kripalani
1947: Partition and Independence.	1947
After Freedom • Communal frenzy • 30 January 1948 – Martyrdom of Mahatama Gandhi • Integration of the princely states • Creation of the Republic • First general elections • The establishment of real democracy • The Congress message enunciated by Jawaharlal Nehru – ‘Political freedom having been attained through non-violent action under the leadership of Gandhi, the National Congress now has to labour for the attainment of social and economic freedom so that progress and equal opportunity may come to all the people of India without any distinction of race or religion.’
30 January 1948: Mahatma Gandhi assassinated.	1948	Jaipur	Pattabhi Sitaramayya
	1950	Nasik	Purshottam Das Tandon
	1951	New Delhi	Jawaharlal Nehru
	1953	Hyderabad	Jawaharlal Nehru
	1954	Kalyani	Jawaharlal Nehru
Towards Socialism
1955: Resolution seeking to introduce planning for a socialistic pattern of society.	1955	Avadi	U.N. Dhebar
1955: Concept of economic and social reconstruction.
	1956	Amritsar	U.N. Dhebar
	1957	Indore	U.N. Dhebar
	1959	Nagpur	U.N. Dhebar
	1960	Bangalore	Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy
	1961	Bhavnagar	Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy
	1962	Patna	Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy
1964: Demise of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.	1964	Bhubaneshwar	K. Kamaraj
The Advent of Indira Gandhi
1965: Demise of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. 1965: Indira Gandhi chosen as prime minister.	1965	Durgapur	K. Kamaraj
	1966	Jaipur	K. Kamaraj
	1968	Hyderabad	S. Nijalingappa
1969: Bank nationalisation. 1969: Abolition of the Privy purses. 1969: Split in Congress over the election of the President of India.	1969	Faridabad	S. Nijalingappa
	1969	Bombay	Jagjivan Ram
1971: Mid-term poll swept by Indira Gandhi.	1971
1972: Congress gets massive victories in state elections.	1972	Calcutta	Shankar Dayal Sharma
1975: Imposition of Emergency.	1975	Chandigarh	Dev Kant Borooah
1977: Loss in general elections. 1977: Congress for democracy splits the party.	1977
1978: Split in Congress. 1978: Indira Gandhi sweeps state elections in Andhra and Karnataka.	1978	New Delhi	Indira Gandhi
1980: Indira Gandhi sweeps back to power with over 300 seats in the Lok Sabha.	1980
	1983	Calcutta	Indira Gandhi
31 October 1984: Indira Gandhi assassinated.	1984
Towards the Twenty First Century • 1984 Rajiv Gandhi leads the Congress to an unprecedented victory winning 401 seats in the Lok Sabha • First steps taken towards changing the political and economic climate in the country • Attempt to solve long pending disputes: * Mizo Accord *Assam Accord * Punjab Accord * Historic visit to China
	1985	Bombay	Rajiv Gandhi
1989: Congress largest single party with 197 seats. Rajiv Gandhi chooses to sit in opposition because he did not get a clear mandate.	1989
Reforming the Economy
1991: Rajiv Gandhi assassinated while campaigning during Lok Sabha elections. 1991: Congress comes to power after the death of Rajiv Gandhi. 1991: P.V. Narasimha Rao chosen as prime minister. 1991: Manmohan Singh as finance minister takes first steps towards opening up the economy and making it globally competitive.	1991
	1992	Tirupati	P.V. Narasimha Rao
1996: Congress loses general elections. 1996: P.V. Narasimha Rao resigns from presidentship of party.	1996
	1997	Calcutta	Sitaram Kesri
The Road to Recovery
14 March 1998: Sonia Gandhi takes over as Congress President. 1998: Congress wins state election and forms governments in Mahdya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.	1998
1999: Congress wins state elections and forms governments in Goa, Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh.	1999
2000: Congress wins state elections and forms governments in Assam, Kerala and Pondicherry.	2000
2001: Congress wins state elections and forms governments in Punjab, Uttaranchal and J&K.	2001	Bangalore	Sonia Gandhi
2003: Congress wins state elections and forms governments in Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.	2003