The Indian National Congress (INC) was established in 1885 and it grew to become one of the most important political parties in pre-independence India. The first Indian National Congress session was held in 1885. Knowing the dates of Indian National Congress sessions and their presidents is important for IAS Exam.
List of Indian National Congress Sessions
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Starting as an organisation comprising only of the educated elite in India, it later became a party of commoners with prominent leaders like Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadar Tilak, Gandhi, Nehru, Bose, etc. as its members.
Indian National Congress is a topic that comes under History subject for prelims and Mains GS-1 and History Optional of UPSC exam. This article will provide you with the list of Indian National Congress Presidents.
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Indian National Congress Sessions
Indian National Congress founders: Allan Octavian Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji and Dinshaw Edulji Wacha. Indian National Congress was founded on 28 December 1885. The topic is important for UPSC Mains too.
The list of Indian National Congress sessions with their Presidents are given in the table below, with reference to the civil services exam:
| Year | Location | President | Importance |
| 1885 | Bombay | W C Bonnerjee | 1st session attended by 72 delegates |
| 1886 | Calcutta | Dadabhai Naoroji | National Congress and National Conference |
| 1887 | Madras | Syed Badruddin Tyabji | Appeal made to Muslims to join hands with other national leaders |
| 1888 | Allahabad | George Yule | First English president |
| 1889 | Bombay | Sir William Wedderburn | – |
| 1890 | Calcutta | Feroz Shah 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 | Rahimtullah M. Sayani | National song ‘Vande Mataram’ sung for the first time |
| 1897 | Amravati | C. Sankaran Nair | – |
| 1898 | Madras | Ananda 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 | Benares | Gopal Krishna Gokhale | Expressed resentment against the partition of Bengal |
| 1906 | Calcutta | Dadabhai Naoroji | The word ‘Swaraj’ was mentioned for the first time |
| 1907 | Surat | Rash Behari Ghosh | Party splits into extremists and moderates |
| 1908 | Madras | Rash Behari Ghosh | Previous session continued |
| 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 | Bankipore (Patna) | Raghunath Narasinha Mudholkar | – |
| 1913 | Karachi | Syed Mohammed | – |
| 1914 | Madras | Bhupendra Nath Basu | – |
| 1915 | Bombay | Satyendra Prasanna Sinha | – |
| 1916 | Lucknow | Ambica Charan Mazumdar | Lucknow Pact – joint session with the Muslim League |
| 1917 | Calcutta | Annie Besant (1847 – 1933) | First woman president of the INC |
| 1918 | Bombay And Delhi | Syed Hasan Imam (Bombay) And Madan Mohan Malaviya (Delhi) | Two sessions were held. First in Bombay in August/September Second in Delhi in December |
| 1919 | Amritsar | Motilal Nehru | Jallianwala Bagh massacre strongly condemned |
| 1920 | Nagpur | C Vijayaraghavachariar | – |
| 1921 | Ahmedabad | Hakim Ajmal Khan (acting President For C R Das) | – |
| 1922 | Gaya | C R Das | – |
| 1923 | Kakinada | Maulana Mohammad Ali, | – |
| 1924 | Belgaum | M K Gandhi | – |
| 1925 | Kanpur | Sarojini Naidu (1879 – 1949) | First Indian woman president |
| 1926 | Guwahati | S Srinivasa Iyengar | – |
| 1927 | Madras | M A Ansari | – |
| 1928 | Calcutta | Motilal Nehru | All India Youth Congress formed |
| 1929 | Lahore | Jawaharlal Nehru | Resolution for ‘Poorna Swaraj.’ Civil Disobedience movement for complete independence to be launched, 26 January to be observed as ‘Independence Day’. |
| 1930 | No Session | – | – |
| 1931 | Karachi | Vallabhbhai Patel | Resolution on fundamental rights and national economic progress. Gandhi-Irwin pact endorsed. Gandhi nominated to represent INC in the second round table conference |
| 1932 | Delhi | Amrit Ranchhorddas Seth | – |
| 1933 | Calcutta | Malaviya Was Elected But Mrs Nellie Sengupta Presided | – |
| 1934 | Bombay | Rajendra Prasad | – |
| 1937 | Lucknow | Jawaharlal Nehru | – |
| 1936 | Faizpur | Jawaharlal Nehru | First rural session/first session to be held in a village |
| 1938 | Haripura | Subhas Chandra Bose | National planning committee set up under Nehru |
| 1939 | Tripuri | Subhas Chandra Bose | Bose was elected but had to resign since Gandhi supported Pattabhi Sitaramayya. Instead, Rajendra Prasad was appointed |
| 1940 | Ramgarh | Abul Kalam Azad | – |
| 1941-45 | – | – | No session because of arrest |
| 1946 | Meerut | Acharya Kripalani | Last session before independence |
| 1948 | Jaipur | Pattabhi Sitaramayya | First session after independence |
| 1950 | Nashik | Purushottam Das Tandon | Resigned in 1951; Nehru became President |
| 1951 | Delhi | Jawaharlal Nehru | – |
| 1953 | Hyderabad | Jawaharlal Nehru | – |
| 1954 | Kalyani | Jawaharlal Nehru | – |
| 1955 | Avadi(madras) | U. N. Dhebar | – |
| 1956 | Amritsar | U. N. Dhebar | – |
| 1958 | Gauhati | U. N. Dhebar | – |
| 1959 | Nagpur | Indira Gandhi | – |
| 1960 | Bangalore | Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy | – |
| 1961 | Bhavnagar | Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy | – |
| 1962 | Bhubaneshwar | Damodaran Sanjvayya | – |
| 1963 | Patna | Damodaran Sanjvayya | – |
| 1964 | Bhubaneshwar | K. Kamaraj | – |
| 1965 | Durgapur | K. Kamaraj | – |
IAS aspirants preparing for UPSC 2023 may check the linked article to prepare as per the upcoming exam.
List of Indian National Congress Sessions
Download PDF Here
Furthermore, aspirants must also carefully review the civil services syllabus and exam pattern for a better understanding of the examination and accordingly chalk out the preparation strategy.
To learn about the best strategy to be followed that can help in guiding through the exam preparation, candidates can refer to the IAS topper list and check out their success stories.
Aspirants can refer to the below-mentioned articles similar to the topic ‘Indian National Congress Sessions & Their Presidents’:
| Constituent Assembly of India | Rowlatt Satyagraha & Jallianwala Bagh Massacre | Non-Cooperation Movement |
| Quit India Movement | Mountbatten Plan | Government of India Act, 1919 |
IAS aspirants may refer to the articles related to UPSC History subject and IAS exam in the table below:
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