List of Indian National Congress Sessions & Presidents (1885-1947)

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)