List of Indian National Congress Sessions: The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded in 1885 and grew to become one of India’s most influential political organizations before to independence. The first session of the Indian National Congress took place in 1885. For the IAS Exam, knowing the dates of Indian National Congress sessions and their presidents is essential.
It began as an organization comprised mostly of India’s educated elite before evolving into a party of commoners with notable leaders such as Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadar Tilak, Gandhi, Nehru, Bose, and others as members.
List of Indian National Congress Sessions
The Founding Years (1885-1900)
Date | Place | President | Session |
28-30 December 1885 | Bombay | Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee | 1st |
27-30 December 1886 | Calcutta | Dadabhai Naoroji | 2nd |
27-30 December 1887 | Madras | Badruddin Tyyabji (fist Muslim President) | 3rd |
26-29 December 1888 | Allahabad | George Yule (first English President) | 4th |
26-28 December 1889 | Bombay | Sir William Wedderburn | 5th |
26-30 December 1890 | Calcutta | Pherozeshah Mehta | 6th |
28-30 December 1891 | Nagpur | P. Ananda Charlu | 7th |
28-30 December 1892 | Allahabad | Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee | 8th |
27-30 December 1893 | Lahore | Dadabhai Naoroji | 9th |
26-29 December 1894 | Madras | Alfred Webb | 10th |
27-30 December 1895 | Pune | Surendranath Banerjee | 11th |
28-31 December 1896 | Calcutta | Rahimatullah M. Sayani | 12th |
27-29 December 1897 | Amraoti | C. Sankaran Nair | 13th |
29-31 December 1898 | Madras | Ananda Mohan Bose | 14th |
27-29 December 1899 | Lucknow | Romesh Chunder Dutt | 15th |
27-29 December 1900 | Lahore | N.G. Chandavarkar |
The Pre Independece Era (1900-1947)
Date | Place | President | Session |
26-28 December 1901 | Calcutta | Dinshaw Eduljee Wacha | 17th |
28-30 December 1902 | Ahmedabad | Surendranath Banerjee | 18th |
28-30 December 1903 | Madras | Lal Mohan Ghosh | 19th |
26-28 December 1904 | Bombay | Sir Henry Cotton | 20th |
27-30 December 1905 | Banaras | Gopal Krishna Gokhale | 21st |
26-29 December 1906 | Calcutta | Dadabhai Naoroji | 22nd |
26-27 December 1907 | Surat | Rash Behari Ghosh | 23rd (Session Suspended) |
28-30 December 1908 | Madras | Rash Behari Ghosh | 23rd |
27-29 December 1909 | Lahore | Madan Mohan Malviya | 24th |
26-29 December 1910 | Allahabad | Sir William Wedderburn | 25th |
26-28 December 1911 | Calcutta | Bishan Narayan Dar | 26th |
26-28 December 1912 | Bankipore | Raghunath Narasinha Mudholkar | 27th |
26-28 December 1913 | Karachi | Nawab Syed Mohammed Bahadur | 28th |
14-15 April 1914 | Madras | Bhupendra Nath Bose | 29th |
27-29 December 1915 | Bombay | Satyendra Prasanna Sinha | 30th |
26-30 December 1916 | Lucknow | Ambica Charan Mazumdar | 31st |
26-29 December 1917 | Calcutta | Annie Besant | 32nd |
26-30 December 1918 | Delhi | Madan Mohan Malviya | 33rd |
29 August – 1 September 1918 | Bombay | Romesh Chunder Dutt | Special Session |
26-30 December 1919 | Amritsar | Motilal Nehru | 34th |
26-30 December 1920 | Nagpur | C. Vijayaraghavachariar | 35th |
27-28 December 1921 | Ahmadabad | Hakim Ajmal Khan (Acting President for C.R. Das) | 36th |
26-31 December 1922 | Gaya | Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das | 37th |
4-8 September 1923 | Delhi | Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad | Special session |
26-27 December 1924 | Belgaum | M.K. Gandhi | 39th |
15-17 April 1925 | Cawnpore | Mrs. Sarojini Naidu | 40th |
26-28 December 1926 | Gawahati | S. Srinivasa Iyengar | 41th |
26-28 December 1927 | Madras | M. A. Ansari | 42nd |
29 December 1928 – 1 January 1929 | Calcutta | Motilal Nehru | 43rd |
16-18 April 1929 | Lahore | Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru | 44th |
21-31 March 1931 | Karachi | Vallabhbhai J. Patel | 45th |
12-14 September 1933 | Calcutta | Mrs. Nellie Sengupta | 47th |
24-28 October 1934 | Bombay | Dr. Rajendra Prasad | 48th |
18-20 June 1936 | Lucknow | Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru | 49th |
12-14 July 1937 | Faizpur | Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru | 50th |
19-21 February 1938 | Haripura | Subhash Chandra Bose | 51st |
10-12 March 1939 | Tripura | Subhash Chandra Bose | 52nd |
19-20 March 1940 | Ramgarh | Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad | 53rd |
23-24 November 1946 | Meerut | J.B. Kriplani | 54th |
Allan Octavian Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji, and Dinshaw Edulji Wacha were the founders of the Indian National Congress. On December 28, 1885, the Indian National Congress was created. The subject is also significant for the UPSC Mains.
UPSC Examinations Concerning Indian National Congress Sessions
Q.1>What is the Indian National Congress’s principal goal?
The Indian National Congress’s primary goals were as follows:
- To foster the nation-building process in India in order to instill in the people a sense of national identity as Indians and to promote National Unity.
- To establish an all-India political platform that will enable political workers from across the country to educate and mobilize the masses through a unified all-India political organization.
- Promoting political consciousness and awakening among educated persons, and eventually throughout the society.
- To promote political liberal democracy, democratic culture, and anti-colonial ideology among the people in the country.
Q.2>Who was the Indian National Congress’s first general secretary?
Answer: Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee of Calcutta was elected as the inaugural session’s President, with A.O Hume serving as General Secretary.
Q.3> Who presided over the first meeting of the Indian National Congress?
The first President of the INC was Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee.
Q.4> Who presided over the Indian National Congress’s Lahore Session in 1909?
Madan Mohan Malaviya presided over the Lahore Session of 1909.
Q.5> Who was the Viceroy of British India at the time of the first Congress session?
Lord Dufferin was the Viceroy at the time of the first session of the INC. The linked article has a complete list of all governors-general and viceroys.
Q.6>During which session did the Indian National Congress break into two factions: moderates and extremists?
Answer: The rift between moderates and extremists occurred during the 1907 Surat session. (Revision of the topic- Extremists and Moderates)