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Important facts and objective questions on Indian National Congress, list of its Presidents and Congress Sessions:


Indian National Congress:

Indian National Congress was founded by British civil servant Allan Octavian Hume in 1885 to form a platform for civic and political dialogue of educated Indians with the British Raj. Its founding members wanted a larger role in the making of British policy for India. Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee was the first President of the Indian National Congress. The first session of the Indian National Congress was held from 28–31 December 1885, and was attended by 72 delegates. The Congress was transformed into a mass movement by Surendranath Banerjea and Sir Henry Cotton during the partition of Bengal in 1905 and the resultant Swadeshi movement. In the first two decades (1885-1905) Indian National Congress was quite moderate in its approach and confided in British justice and generosity. But repressive measures of the British gave rise to extremist within the Congress. By 1907 the party was split into two-halves—the Garam dal of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, or Extremists,and the Naram Dal of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, or Moderates—distinguished by their attitude towards the British colonists. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi returned from South Africa in 1915 and with the help of the moderate group led by Ghokhale formed an alliance with the Khilafat Movement. With the already existing nationalistic feeling combined with Gandhi's popularity, the Congress became a forceful and dominant group of people in the country, bringing together millions of people by specifically working against caste differences, untouchability, poverty, and religious and ethnic boundaries. The 1929 Lahore session under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru holds special significance as in this session "Poorna Swaraj" (complete independence) was declared as the goal of the Indian National Congress. 26 January 1930 was declared as "Poorna Swaraj Diwas", Independence Day. To commemorate this date the Constitution of India was formally adopted on 26 January 1950.

Indian National Congress - Important Points:

Indian National Congress was founded in the year - 1885
Indian National Congress was founded by - Allan Octavian Hume
First session of Indian National Congress was held at - Mumbai (1885)
Who was the Viceroy of British India when the Indian National Congress was founded - Lord Dufferin
During the early phase of its existence, i.e., 1885-1905 Indian National Congress never made this demand - Independence from British rule
First woman president of Indian National Congress - Mrs Annie Besant (1917)
First Indian woman president of Indian National Congress - Mrs Sarojini Naidu (1925)
Woman Presidents of Indian National Congress - Mrs Annie Besant (1917), Mrs Sarojini Naidu (1925) and Mrs. Nellie Sengupta (1933)
First split of Indian National Congress - 1907 at Surat session
First Englishmen to become president of Indian National Congress - George Yule (1888)
Youngest president of Indian National Congress - Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
First Muslim to become president of Indian National Congress - Badrudin Tayabji (Madras, 1887)
National Song, Vande Mataram was first sung in the session of - Calcutta (1896)
First joint session of Indian National Congress and Muslim League - Lucknow (1916)
Session of Indian National Congress where wearing of Khadi was made compulsory for its workers- Mrs Annie Besant (1917)
National Anthem, Jana Gana Mana was first sung in the session of - Calcutta (1911)
The only session of Indian National Congress presided over by Mahatma Gandhi - Belgaum (1924)
Session of Indian National Congress where demand for complete independence was made - 1929 at Lahore
President of Indian National Congress at the time of independence - Acharya J B Kriplani (1946)


List of Presidents of Indian National Congress and its sessions:

Year Place Name of President
1885BombayWomesh Chandra Bonnerjee
1886CalcuttaDadabhai Naoroji
1887MadrasBadruddin Tayyabji
1888AllahabadGeorge Yule
1889BombaySir William Wedderburn
1890CalcuttaSir Phirozshah Mehta
1891NagpurP. Anand Charlu
1892AllahabadW. C. Bonerjee
1893LahoreDadabhai Naoroji
1894MadrasAlfred Webb
1895PoonaS. N. Banerjee
1896CalcuttaRahimtulla M Sayani
1897AmravatiSir C. Sankaran Nair
1898MadrasA. M. Bose
1899LucknowR. C. Dutt
1900LahoreN. G. Chandavarkar
1901CalcuttaD. E. Wacha
1902AhmedabadS. N. Banerjee
1903MadrasL. M. Ghosh
1904BombaySir Henry Cotton
1905BanarasGopal Krishna Gokhala
1906CalcuttaDadabhai Naoroji
1907SuratDr. Rash Behari Ghosh
1908MadrasDr. Rash Behari Ghosh
1909LahoreMadan Mohan Malaviya
1910AllahabadSir William Wedderbum
1911CalcuttaBishan Narayan Dhar
1912PatnaRao Bahadur Raghunath Narasinha Mudholkar
1913KarachiNawab Syed Mohammad Bahadur
1914MadrasBhupendra Nath Bose
1915BombayLord Satyendra Prasanna Sinha
1916LucknowAmbica Charan Mazumdar
1917CalcuttaMrs. Annie Besant
1918-----------Sayed Hassan Imam (Special Session)
1918DelhiMadan Mohan Malaviya (Annual Session )
1919AmritsarPandit Motilal Nehru
1920NagpurLala Lajpat Rai (Suspended)
1920NagpurC. Vijayaraghavachariar (Annual Session )
1921AllahabadDeshbandhu Chittaranjan Das (In Prison), Hakim Ajmal Khan (Acting)
1922GayaDeshbandhu Chittaranjan Das
1923-----------Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (suspended)
1923KakinadaMaulana Mohammad Ali Jouhar (Annual Session)
1924BelgaumMohandas Karamchand Gandhi
1925KanpurMrs. Sarojini Naidu
1926GauhatiS. Srinivasa lyengar
1927MadrasDr. Mohammad Ali Ansari
1928CalcuttaMotilal Nehru
1929LahoreJawaharlal Nehru
1930-----------No session due to Civil Disobedience Movement
1931-----------Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
1932-----------Ranchod Lal Amrit Lal
1933CalcuttaMrs. Nellie Sengupta
1934BombayDr. Rajendra Prasad
1935LucknowRajendra Prasad
1936-----------Jawaharlal Nehru
1937FaizpurJawaharlal Nehru
1938HaripuraShubhsh Chandra Bose
1939TripuraShubhsh Chandra Bose (resigned). Later Rajendra Prasad was appointed.
1940-1946-----------Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad
1946(July-Sep.)-----------Jawaharlal Nehru
1946-1947MeerutJ. B. Kripalani
1948JaipurPattabhi Sitaramaiah
1950NasikPurushotam Das Tandon
1951DelhiJawaharlal Nehru
1953HyderabadJawaharlal Nehru
1954KalyanJawaharlal Nehru
1955AvadiU.N. Dhebar
1956AmritsarU.N. Dhebar
1957IndoneU.N. Dhebar
1958PragyotishpurU.N. Dhebar
1959NagpurU.N. Dhebar
1960BangaloreIndira Ghandi
1961BhavnagarN.Sanjiva Reddy
1962New DelhiD.Sanjivayya
1964BhubaneshwarK .Kamaraj
1965DurgapurK .Kamaraj
1966JaipurK .Kamaraj
1968BangaloreS.Nijalingappa
1969New DelhiC.Subramaniam
1970New DelhiJagjivayya
1971AhmedabadD.Sanjivayya
1972CalcuttaShankar Dayal Sharma
1975ChandigarhD.K. Barooah
1976New DelhiBrahmananda Reddy
1978New DelhiIndira Ghandi
1983CalcuttaIndira Ghandi
1984New DelhiRajiv Gandhi
1985BombayRajiv Gandhi
1991New DelhiP.V. Narasimha Rao
1996New DelhiSitaram kesri
1998New DelhiSonia Gandhi


Objective Questions on Indian National Congress, its Presidents and Congress Sessions:
1. Who was the founder of Indian National Congress?
(a) W. C. Bonnerjee
(b) Dadabahi Naoroji
(c) A. O. Hume
(d) George Yule

2. Who was the Viceroy of British India when the Indian National Congress was founded?
(a) Lord Dufferin
(b) Lord Canning
(c) Lord Curzon
(d) Lord Ripon

3. Who was the first woman president of Indian National Congress?
(a) Sarojini Naidu
(b) Nellie Sengupta
(c) Indira Gandhi
(d) Annie Besant

4. Which session of Indian National Congress was presided over by Mahatma Gandhi?
(a) Belgaum in 1924
(b) Lahore in 1929
(c) Kanpur in 1925
(d) Nagpur in 1920

5. Who was the president of Indian National Congress at the time of independence?
(a) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
(b) J B Kriplani
(c) Rajendra Prasad
(d) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

6. First joint session of Indian National Congress and Muslim League was held in?
(a) 1911 (Calcutta)
(b) 1914 (Madras)
(c) 1915 (Bombay)
(d) 1916 (Lucknow)

7. In which session of Indian National Congress, Jana Gana Mana (National Anthem) was first sung?
(a) Madras in 1914
(b) Nagpur in 1920
(c) Calcutta in 1911
(d) Allahabad in 1910

8. Who was the first Englishmen to become the president of Indian National Congress?
(a) Sir William Wedderburn
(b) George Yule
(c) Alfred Webb
(d) Sir Henry Cotton

9. First session of Indian National Congress was held at?
(a) Mumbai
(b) Nagpur
(c) Calcutta
(d) Lahore

10. How many times Mahatma Gandhi became the president of Indian National Congress?
(a) 1
(b) 2
(c) 3
(d) 4


Answers - 1(c), 2(a), 3(d), 4(a), 5(b), 6(d), 7(c), 8(b), 9(a) and 10(a).