The INC is a "big tent" party that has been described as sitting on thecentre of theIndian political spectrum.[10][20][35] The party held its first session in 1885 inBombay whereW.C. Bonnerjee presided over it.[36] After Indian independence in 1947, Congress emerged as acatch-all,Indian nationalist andsecular party, dominating Indian politics for the next 50 years. The party's first prime minister,Jawaharlal Nehru, led the Congress to supportsocialist policies by creating thePlanning Commission, introducingFive-Year Plans, implementing a mixed economy, and establishing asecular state. After Nehru's death and the short tenure ofLal Bahadur Shastri,Indira Gandhi became the leader of the party. In the 17 general elections since independence, it has won an outright majority on seven occasions and has led the ruling coalition a further three times, heading the central government for more than 54 years. There have been six prime ministers from the Congress party, the first beingJawaharlal Nehru (1947–1964), and the most recent beingManmohan Singh (2004–2014). Since the 1990s, theBharatiya Janata Party has emerged as the main rival of the Congress in both national and regional politics.
In 1969, the party suffered a major split, with a faction led by Indira Gandhi leaving to form theCongress (R), with the remainder becoming theCongress (O). The Congress (R) became the dominant faction, winning the1971 general election by a huge margin. From 1975 to 1977, Indira Gandhi declared astate of emergency in India, resulting in widespread oppression and abuses of power. Another split in the party occurred in 1979, leading to the creation of the Congress (I), which was recognised as the Congress by theElection Commission in 1981. UnderRajiv Gandhi's leadership, the party won a massive victory in the1984 general elections, nevertheless losing the election held in 1989 to theNational Front. The Congress then returned to power underP. V. Narasimha Rao, who moved the party towards aneconomically liberal agenda, a sharp break from previous leaders. However, it lost the1996 general election and was replaced in government by the National Front. After a record eight years out of office, the Congress-led coalition known as theUnited Progressive Alliance (UPA) underManmohan Singh formed a government after the2004 general elections. Subsequently, the UPA again formed the government after winning the2009 general elections, and Singh became the first prime minister sinceIndira Gandhi in 1971 to be re-elected after completing a full five-year term. However, under the leadership ofRahul Gandhi in the2014 general election, the Congress suffered a heavy defeat, winning only 44 seats of the 543-memberLok Sabha (thelower house of theParliament of India). In the2019 general election, the party failed to make any substantial gains and won 52 seats, failing to form theofficial opposition yet again. In the2024 general election, the party performed better-than-expected, and won 99 seats, forming the official opposition with their highest seat count in a decade.[37][38]
First session of Indian National Congress, Bombay, 28–31 December 1885Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a constitutional social reformer, moderate nationalist, and the president of the Indian National Congress in 1905
During the latter part of the 1870s, there were concerted efforts among Indians to establish apan-Indian organisation for nationalist political influence.[39] In 1883,Allan Octavian Hume, a retired BritishCivil Servant also known for his pro-Indian activities, outlined his idea for a body representing Indian interests in an open letter to graduates of theUniversity of Calcutta.[39] The aim was to obtain a greater share in government for educated Indians and to create a platform for civic and political dialogue between them and theBritish Raj. Hume initiated contact with prominent leaders in India and a notice convening the first meeting of the Indian National Union to be held inPoona the following December, was issued.[40] However, due to acholera outbreak in Poona it was moved to Bombay.[41][42] Subsequently, the first session of the Indian National Congress held inBombay from 28 to 31 December 1885 at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College.[43] Hume organised the first meeting in Bombay with the approval of theViceroyLord Dufferin. He assumed office as the General Secretary, whileUmesh Chandra Banerjee was appointed as the first president of Congress.[44] Hume believed that while the British helped bring peace to India, they still had not solved the country’s economic problems.[45]
In its initial years, the Congress served as a platform for politically active individuals advocating reforms within the British Empire. However, two distinct factions emerged: one group sought complete independence from British rule, while the other aimed for reforms within the existing system, with a focus onIndianisation. This division marked the early phase of Congress, as different leaders and members had varied visions for the future of India, ranging from moderate reforms to a push for full sovereignty.[52] They primarily advocated for the 'Indianisation' of administrative services, emphasising that India should be governed by Indians, in collaboration with the British. The majority of the founding members of Congress has been educated or lived in Britain. As a result, unrepresentative of the Indian masses at the time,[53] it functioned more as a stage for elite Indian ambitions than a political party for the first two decade of its existence.[54]
Early years
Since its establishment, the Congress was led by Moderate leaders, who were influenced byWesternpolitical ideas, particularlyliberalism. They emphasisedindividual dignity, theright to freedom, andequality for all, regardless of caste, creed, or sex. This philosophy guided them in opposing British autocracy, demanding the rule of law, equality before the law, and advocating forsecularism.[55] However, by 1905, the party had divided into two groups, each with its own approach and ideology on how to attainself-governance for India. A division arose between the Moderates—led byDadabhai Naoroji,Romesh Chunder Dutt,Gopal Krishna Gokhale,andDinshaw Wacha—who believed in a peaceful and constitutional approach to achieving reforms and self-governance within the framework of the British Empire, and the Extremists, led byLala Lajpat Rai,Bipin Chandra Pal andBal Gangadhar Tilak—who favored a more assertive and confrontational strategy.[56]
The moderates preferred to avoid direct conflict with the Britishers, aiming instead to reform their governance to better serve the country's interests. They aimed to collaborate with British authorities and use constitutional means, such as petitions, resolutions, and dialogue, to address the grievances of Indians.[55] Over time, as they recognised the impact of British rule, many moderate leaders shifted their stance and started advocating forSwaraj or self-government for India within the British Empire. Thereafter, the moderates followed a two-fold approach to achieve their goals. First, they aimed to build strong public opinion to inspire a sense of national consciousness and unity, while educating the masses on shared political issues. Second, they sought to influence both theBritish government and public opinion, advocating for reforms in India that aligned with the demands of the nationalists.[55] The Moderates were able to analyse the political and economic impacts ofBritish rule in India. Dadabhai Naoroji, Romesh Chunder Dutt, and Dinshaw Wacha and others introduced theDrain Theory to highlight how Britain exploited India's resources.[57] The Drain Theory, proposed by these leaders, challenged the notion that British rule was beneficial for India, shaping a nationwide public opinion that British colonialism was the primary reason for India’s poverty and economic exploitation.[58] The moderate leaders had several demands, including proper representation of Indians on theLegislative Councils and an increase in the powers of these councils. They also advocated for administrative reforms and voiced their opinions on international issues. They opposed theannexation of Burma, themilitary actions in Afghanistan, and the treatment of tribal people innorthwestern India. Additionally, they called for better conditions for Indian workers who had migrated to countries such asSouth Africa,Malaya,Mauritius, theWest Indies, andBritish Guyana asindentured labourers.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak speaking in 1907 as the Party split into moderates and extremists. Seated at the table isAurobindo Ghosh and to his right (in the chair) isG. S. Khaparde, both allies of Tilak.
The other faction, led by radical leaders such asLala Lajpat Rai,Bal Gangadhar Tilak, andBipin Chandra Pal—colloquially known as "Lal, Bal, Pal"—advocated a more militant approach. Known as the extremist group, or assertive nationalists, they emerged prominently after thepartition of Bengal in 1905. They believed in direct action and criticised the moderate approach, advocating for more aggressive means to achieve self-rule (Swaraj). Disillusioned by the limited achievements of the moderates, they were less willing to compromise with the British. Instead, they focused on building mass support by instilling a sense of self-respect, self-reliance, pride in their ancient heritage and national unity to attain their objectives.[59] The Extremist leaders did not support the use of violence against British rule and rejected methods such as political murder and assassination. They successfully engaged the urban middle and lower classes, while also mobilising peasants and workers. Although they used religious symbols to inspire the masses, they consciously avoided mixing religion with politics. Tilak sought to mobilise Hindu Indians by appealing to an explicitly Hindu political identity displayed in the annual publicSarvajanik Ganeshotsav andShiv Jayanti festivals that he inaugurated in western India, particularly in theBombay Presidency.[60] Tilak, along with his associatesGopal Ganesh Agarkar andVishnushastri Chiplunkar, believed that educating the masses was the most effective way to serve the nation. In line with this belief, they co-founded the New English School inPune in 1876 to provide modern, Indian-controlled education as an alternative to British institutions.[61] Subsequently, these leaders established theDeccan Education Society (DES) to advance their pedagogical objectives, with a particular emphasis on cultivating national consciousness among Indian youth.[62] However, Tilak soon realised that education alone was not sufficient; he believed it was equally important to raise public awareness about the country's condition. To achieve this, he started two weekly publications in 1881: theMaratha in English andKesari in Marathi. By the end of 1905, Congress began transforming into a mass movement, largely due to the agitation against the partition of Bengal and the emergence of theSwadeshi movement.[49] The Moderates’ approach of gradual reforms through constitutional methods and the Extremists’ advocacy of direct action were fundamentally incompatible. These ideological disagreements between the Extremists and the Moderates caused a deep rift within the movement. At the Congress session held in Surat in December 1907, the party formally split into two factions, an event later referred to as theSurat Split.[63]
Annie Besant, a British social reformer, moved to India in 1893 and became actively involved in the Congress.[64] Recognising the importance of full cooperation from the moderates for the success of the movement, both Tilak and Besant realised that it was necessary to secure the full cooperation of the moderates. In 1915, during the annual session of the Congress held atLucknow under the presidency ofAmbica Charan Mazumdar, it was decided that the extremists led by Tilak would be admitted to the Congress. Inspired by theIrish Home Rule movement, which sought greater autonomy from Britain, Tilak and Besant were influenced by the concept of self-government (Home Rule) and began calling for similar rights for India.[65] However, Tilak and Besant were unable to convince the Indian National Congress to support their proposal to set up Home Rule leagues. As a result, they established separate leagues. Tilak launched theIndian Home Rule League in April 1916 atBelgaum, with its headquarters inPoona. His league operated primarily inMaharashtra (excluding Bombay),Karnataka, and theCentral Provinces and Berar.[65] In contrast, Besant set up her All-India Home Rule League in September 1916 inMadras, which grew to include over 200 branches across the country.[64] Prominent leaders who joined or supported the Home Rule movement includedMotilal Nehru,Muhammad Ali Jinnah,Bhulabhai Desai,Saifuddin Kitchlew, Jawaharlal Nehru,Chittaranjan Das,Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi,Madan Mohan Malviya,Tej Bahadur Sapru, andLala Lajpat Rai.
Congress as a mass movement
Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru during a meeting of the All India Congress, in 1946
In 1915,Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa and joined Congress.[66][67] His efforts in South Africa were well known not only among the educated but also among the masses. During 1917 and 1918, Mahatma Gandhi was involved in three struggles: known asChamparan Satyagraha, Ahmedabad Mill Strike andKheda Satyagraha.[68][69][70] AfterWorld War I, the party came to be associated with Gandhi, who remained its unofficial spiritual leader and icon.[71] He formed an alliance with theKhilafat Movement in 1920 as part of his opposition to British rule in India,[72] and fought for the rights for Indians using civil disobedience orSatyagraha as the tool for agitation.[73] In 1922, after the deaths of policemen atChauri Chaura, Gandhi suspended the agitation.
At the Congress 1929 Lahore session under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru,Purna Swaraj (complete independence) was declared as the party's goal, declaring 26 January 1930 asPurna Swaraj Diwas (Independence Day).[80] The same year, Srinivas Iyenger was expelled from the party for demanding full independence, not justhome rule as demanded by Gandhi.[81]
After the failure of theCripps Mission launched by the British government to gain Indian support for the British war effort, Mahatma Gandhi made a call to "Do or Die", delivered in Bombay on 8 August 1942 at theGowalia Tank Maidan. Gandhiendorsed theQuit India Movement, opposing any help to the British cause in theSecond World War.[86] The colonial government instituted mass arrests including of Gandhi and Congress leaders, and killed over 1,000 Indians who participated in this movement.[87] Meanwhile, a spate of violent attacks were carried out by the nationalists against the colonial government and infrastructure.[88] The movement played a role in weakening British control over the South Asian region and ultimately paved the way for Indian independence.[88][89]
In 1945, when the Second World War almost came to an end, theLabour Party of the United Kingdom won elections with a promise to provide independence to India.[90][91] The jailed political prisoners of the Quit India movement were released in the same year.[92]
In 1946, the colonial government tried the soldiers of Japanese-sponsoredIndian National Army in theINA trials. In response, Congress helped form theINA Defence Committee, which assembled a legal team to defend the soldiers of theAzad Hind provisional government. The team included several famous lawyers, includingBhulabhai Desai,Asaf Ali, and Jawaharlal Nehru.[93] The colonial government eventually backtracked in the face of opposition by the Congress.[94][95]
Post-independence
After Indian independence in 1947, the Indian National Congress became the dominant political party in the country. In 1952, in thefirst general election held after Independence, the party swept to power in the national parliament and most state legislatures. It held power nationally until 1977 when it was defeated by the Janata coalition. It returned to power in 1980 and ruled until 1989 when it was once again defeated. The party formed the government in 1991 at the head of a coalition, as well as in 2004 and 2009 when it led the United Progressive Alliance. During this period the Congress remained centre-left in its social policies while steadily shifting from a socialist to aneoliberal economic outlook.[96] The Party's rivals at state level have been national parties including theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP), theCommunist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM), and various regional parties, such as theTelugu Desam Party,Trinamool Congress andAam Aadmi Party.[97]
A post-partition successor to the party survived as thePakistan National Congress, a party which represented the rights of religious minorities in the state. The party's support was strongest in the Bengali-speaking province ofEast Pakistan. After the Bangladeshi War of Independence, it became known as theBangladeshi National Congress, but was dissolved in 1975 by the government.[98][99][100]
From 1951 until his death in 1964,Jawaharlal Nehru was the paramount leader of the party. Congress gained power in landslide victories in the general elections of 1951–52, 1957, and 1962.[101] During his tenure, Nehru implemented policies based onimport substitution industrialisation, and advocated amixed economy where the government-controlledpublic sector co-existed with theprivate sector.[102] He believed the establishment of basic and heavy industries was fundamental to the development and modernisation of the Indian economy.[101] The Nehru government directed investment primarily into key public sector industries—steel, iron, coal, and power—promoting their development with subsidies and protectionist policies.[102] Nehru embraced secularism,socialistic economic practices based on state-driven industrialisation, and anon-aligned and non-confrontational foreign policy that became typical of the modern Congress Party.[103] The policy of non-alignment during theCold War meant Nehru received financial and technical support from both theEastern andWestern Blocs to build India's industrial base from nothing.[104][105]
During his period in office, there were four known assassination attempts on Nehru.[106] The first attempt on his life was during partition in 1947 while he was visiting theNorth-West Frontier Province in a car. The second was by a knife-wielding rickshaw-puller in Maharashtra in 1955.[107] A third attempt happened inBombay in 1956.[108] The fourth was a failed bombing attempt on railway tracks in Maharashtra in 1961.[106] Despite threats to his life, Nehru despised having excess security personnel around him and did not like his movements to disrupt traffic.[106]K. Kamaraj became the president of theAll India Congress Committee in 1963 during the last year of Nehru's life.[109] Prior to that, he had been the chief minister ofMadras state for nine years.[110] Kamaraj had also been a member of "the syndicate", a group of right wing leaders within Congress. In 1963 the Congress lost popularity following the defeat in the Indo-Chinese war of 1962. To revitalise the party, Kamaraj proposed theKamaraj Plan to Nehru that encouraged six Congress chief ministers (including himself) and six senior cabinet ministers to resign to take up party work.[111][112][113]
In 1964, Nehrudied because of anaortic dissection, raising questions about the party's future.[114][115][116] Following the death of Nehru,Gulzarilal Nanda was appointed as the interim prime minister on 27 May 1964, pending the election of a new parliamentary leader of the Congress party who would then become prime minister.[117] During the leadership contest to succeed Nehru, the preference was between Morarji Desai and Lal Bahadur Shashtri. Eventually, Shashtri was selected as the next parliamentary leader thus the Prime Minister. Kamaraj was widely credited as the "kingmaker" in for ensuring the victory ofLal Bahadur Shastri over Morarji Desai.[118]
In mid-1969, she was involved in a dispute with senior party leaders on several issues. Notably – Her support for the independent candidate,V. V. Giri, rather than the official Congress party candidate,Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, for the vacant post of thepresident of India[134][135] and Gandhi's abrupt nationalisation of the 14 biggest banks in India.
In November 1969, the Congress party president,S. Nijalingappa, expelled Indira Gandhi from the party for indiscipline.[136][137] Subsequently, Gandhi launched her own faction of the INC which came to be known as Congress (R).[f] The original party then came to be known asIndian National Congress (O).[g] Its principal leaders were Kamraj, Morarji Desai, Nijalingappa andS. K. Patil who stood for a more right-wing agenda.[138] The split occurred when a united opposition under the banner ofSamyukt Vidhayak Dal, won control over several states in theHindi Belt.[139] Indira Gandhi, on the other side, wanted to use a populist agenda in order to mobilise popular support for the party.[138] Her faction, called Congress (R), was supported by most of the Congress MPs whilethe original party had the support of only 65 MPs.[140] In the All India Congress Committee, 446 of its 705 members walked over to Indira's side. The "Old Congress" retained the party symbol of a pair of bullocks carrying a yoke while Indira's breakaway faction was given a new symbol of a cow with a suckling calf by the Election Commission as the party election symbol. The Congress (O) eventually merged with other opposition parties to form theJanata Party.
"India might be an ancient country but was a young democracy and as such should remain vigilant against the domination of few over the social, economic or political systems. Banks should be publicly owned so that they catered to not just large industries and big businesses but also agriculturists, small industries and entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the private banks had been functioning erratically with hundreds of them failing and causing loss to the depositors who were given no guarantee against such loss."
—Gandhi's remarks after the nationalisation of private banks.[141]
In the mid-term1971 Indian general election, the Gandhi-led Congress (R) won a landslide victory on a platform of progressive policies such as the elimination of poverty (Garibi Hatao).[142] The policies of the Congress (R) under Gandhi before the 1971 elections included proposals to abolish thePrivy Purse to former rulers of thePrincely states, and the 1969nationalisation of India's 14 largest banks.[143] The 1969 attempt by Indira Gandhi government to abolish privy purse and the official recognition of the titles did not meet with success. The constitutional Amendment bill to this effect was passed in Lok Sabha, but it failed to get the required two-thirds majority in the Rajya Sabha. However, in 1971, with the passage of theTwenty-sixth Amendment to the Constitution of India, the privy purses were abolished.
Due toSino-Indian War 1962, India faced a huge budgetary deficit resulting in its treasury being almost empty, high inflation, and dwindling forex reserves. The brief War of 1962 exposed weaknesses in the economy and shifted the focus towards the defence industry and theIndian Army. The government found itself short of resources to fund the Third Plan (1961–1966).Subhadra Joshi a senior party member, proposed a non-official resolution asking for the nationalisation of private banks stating that nationalisation would help in mobilising resources for development.[144] In July 1969, Indira Gandhi through the ordinance nationalised fourteen major private banks.[145] After being re-elected in 1971 on a campaign that endorsed nationalisation, Indira Gandhi went on to nationalise the coal, steel, copper, refining, cotton textiles and insurance industries. The main reason was to protect employment and the interest of the organised labour.[144]
On 12 June 1975, theHigh Court of Allahabad declared Indira Gandhi's election to theLok Sabha, the lower house of India's parliament, void on the grounds of electoral malpractice.[146] However, Gandhi rejected calls to resign and announced plans to appeal to theSupreme Court. In response to increasing disorder and lawlessness, Gandhi's ministry recommended that PresidentFakhruddin Ali Ahmed declare aState of Emergency, based on the provisions ofArticle 352 of theConstitution.[147] During thenineteen-month emergency, widespread oppression and abuse of power by Gandhi's unelected younger son and political heirSanjay Gandhi and his close associates occurred.[148][149][150] Implemented on 25 June 1975, the Emergency officially ended on 21 March 1977.[151] All political prisoners were released and fresh elections for the Lok Sabha were called.[152] Inparliamentary elections held in March, the Janata alliance of anti-Indira opposition parties won a landslide victory over Congress, winning 295 seats in the Lok Sabha against Congress' 153. Gandhi lost her seat to her Janata opponentRaj Narain.
On 2 January 1978, Indira and her followers seceded and formed a new opposition party, popularly called Congress (I)—the "I" signifying Indira.[153][154][155] During the next year, her new party attracted enough members of the legislature to become the official opposition.[156] In November 1978, Gandhi regained a parliamentary seat. In January 1980, following alandslide victory for Congress (I), she was again elected prime minister.[157] The national election commission declared Congress (I) to be the real Indian National Congress for the1984 general election.[158] However, the designation I was dropped only in 1996.[156][157]
Gandhi's premiership witnessed increasing turmoil inPunjab, with demands forSikh autonomy byJarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his militant followers.[159] In 1983, Bhindranwale with his armed followers headquartered themselves in theGolden Temple inAmritsar and started accumulating weapons.[160] In June 1984, after several futile negotiations, Gandhi ordered theIndian Army to enter the Golden Temple to establish control over the complex and remove Bhindranwale and his armed followers. This event is known asOperation Blue Star.[161] On 31 October 1984, two of Gandhi's bodyguards,Satwant Singh andBeant Singh,shot her with their service weapons in the garden of the prime minister's residence in response to her authorisation of Operation Blue Star.[160] Gandhi was due to be interviewed by British actorPeter Ustinov, who was filming a documentary for Irish television.[162] Her assassination prompted the1984 anti-Sikh riots, during which 3,000–17,000 people were killed.[163][164][165][166] Congress Party MP,Sajjan Kumar, was convicted in two cases for instigating and leading a mob to attack and murder Sikh civilians during the Anti-Sikh riots in New Delhi.[167]
In 1984, Indira Gandhi's sonRajiv Gandhi became nominal head of Congress, and went on to become prime minister upon her assassination.[168] In December, he led Congress to a landslide victory, where it secured 401 seats in the parliament.[169] His administration took measures to reform the government bureaucracy and liberalise the country's economy.[170] Rajiv Gandhi's attempts to discourage separatist movements in Punjab and Kashmir backfired. After his government became embroiled in several financial scandals, his leadership became increasingly ineffectual.[171] Gandhi was regarded as a non-abrasive person who consulted other party members and refrained from hasty decisions.[172] TheBofors scandal damaged his reputation as an honest politician, but he was posthumously cleared of bribery allegations in 2004.[173] On 21 May 1991, Gandhi was killed by a bomb concealed in a basket of flowers carried by a woman associated with theTamil Tigers.[174] He was campaigning in Tamil Nadu for upcomingparliamentary elections. In 1998, an Indian court convicted 26 people in the conspiracy to assassinate Gandhi.[175] The conspirators, who consisted of Tamil militants from Sri Lanka and their Indian allies, had sought revenge against Gandhi because the Indian troops he sent to Sri Lanka in 1987 to help enforcea peace accord there had fought with Tamil Militant guerrillas.[176][177]
The mid-1990s marked a period of political flux in India, with frequent changes in government and coalition dynamics. Rajiv Gandhi was succeeded as party leader byP. V. Narasimha Rao, who was elected prime minister in June 1991.[178]
P. V. Narasimha Rao era (1991–1998)
His rise to the prime ministership was politically significant because he was the first person from South India to hold the office, marking a shift from the traditionally northern-dominated leadership in Indian politics. After the election, he formed a minority government. Rao himself did not contest elections in 1991, but after he was sworn in as prime minister, he won in a by-election fromNandyal in Andhra Pradesh.[179] His administration oversaw majoreconomic change and experienced several domestic incidents that affected India's national security.[180] Rao, who held theIndustries portfolio, was personally responsible for the dismantling of theLicence Raj, which came under the purview of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.[181] Rao accelerated the dismantling of the Licence Raj, reversing the socialist policies of previous governments.[182][183] He employed Manmohan Singh as his finance minister to begin historic economic changes. With Rao's mandate, Singh launched reforms for India'sglobalisation that involved implementingInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) policies to prevent India's impendingeconomic collapse.[181] Future prime ministersAtal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh continued the economic reform policies begun by Rao's government. He is often called the "Father of Indian economic reforms".[184][185] Rao was also referred to asChanakya for his ability to push tough economic and political legislation through the parliament while heading a minority government.[186][187]
By 1996, party found itself in a complex political landscape. It faced internal challenges, including factionalism and leadership struggles, allegations of corruption, and a degree of anti-incumbency sentiment. The1996 general elections witnessed the emergence of a fractured mandate, leading to the absence of a clear majority for any single party. Congress was reduced to 140 seats in elections that year, its lowest number in the Lok Sabha yet. Rao later resigned as prime minister and, in September, as party president.[188] He was succeeded as president bySitaram Kesri, the party's first non-Brahmin leader.[189] During the tenure of both Rao and Kesri, the two leaders conducted internal elections to the Congress working committees and their own posts as party presidents.[190]
The1998 general elections saw Congress win 141 seats in the Lok Sabha, its lowest tally until then.[191] To boost its popularity and improve its performance in the forthcoming election, Congress leaders urgedSonia Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi's widow, to assume leadership of the party.[192] She had previously declined offers to become actively involved in party affairs and had stayed away from politics.[193] After her election as party leader, a section of the party that objected to the choice because of her Italian ethnicity broke away and formed theNationalist Congress Party (NCP), led bySharad Pawar.[194]
Sonia Gandhi struggled to revive the party in her early years as its president; she was under continuous scrutiny for her foreign birth and lack of political acumen. In the snap elections called by theNational Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in1999, Congress' tally further plummeted to just 114 seats.[195] Although the leadership structure was unaltered as the party campaigned strongly in the assembly elections that followed, Gandhi began to make such strategic changes as abandoning the party's 1998 Pachmarhi resolution ofekla chalo (go it alone) policy, and formed alliances with other like-minded parties. In the intervening years, the party was successful at various legislative assembly elections; at one point, Congress ruled 15 states.[196] For the2004 general election, Congress forged alliances with regional parties including the NCP and theDravida Munnetra Kazhagam.[197] The party's campaign emphasised social inclusion and the welfare of the common masses—an ideology that Gandhi herself endorsed for Congress during her presidency—with slogans such asCongress ka haath, aam aadmi ke saath ("Congress hand in hand with the common man"), contrasting with the NDA's "India Shining" campaign.[195][198][199] The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) won 222 seats in the new parliament, defeating the NDA by a substantial margin. With the subsequent support of the communist front, Congress won a majority and formed a new government.[200]
Despite massive support from within the party, Gandhi declined the post of prime minister, choosing to appointManmohan Singh instead.[201] She remained as party president and headed theNational Advisory Council (NAC).[202] During its first term in office, the UPA government passed several social reform bills. These included anemployment guarantee bill, theRight to Information Act, and aright to education act. The NAC, as well asthe Left Front that supported the government from the outside, were widely seen as being the driving force behind such legislation. The Left Front withdrew its support of the government over disagreements about theU.S.–India Civil Nuclear Agreement. Despite the effective loss of 62 seats in parliament, the government survived the trust vote that followed.[203]
In theLok Sabha elections held soon after, Congress won 207 seats, the highest tally of any party since 1991. The UPA won 262, enabling it to form a government for the second time. The social welfare policies of the first UPA government, and the perceived divisiveness of the BJP, are broadly credited with the victory.[204]
By the2014 election, the party had lost much of its popular support, mainly growing discontent over a series of corruption allegations involving government officials, including the2G spectrum case and theIndian coal allocation scam, as well as the ineptness towards national security, particularly the insensitivity in the aftermath of the2011 Mumbai bombings.[205][206][207] The Congress won only 44 seats in theLok Sabha, compared to the 336 of the BJP and the NDA.[208] The UPA suffered a landslide defeat, which was the party's worst-ever national electoral performance with its vote share dipping below 20 per cent for the first time.[209] Sonia Gandhi retired as party president in December 2017, having served for a record nineteen years. She was succeeded by her sonRahul Gandhi, who was elected unopposed in the 2017 INC presidential election.[200]
Rahul Gandhi resigned from his post after the2019 election, due to the party's dismal electoral performance.[210] The party only won 52 seats, eight more than the previous election. Its vote percentage once again fell below 20 per cent. Following Gandhi's resignation, party leaders began deliberations for a suitable candidate to replace him. The Congress Working Committee met on 10 August to make a final decision on the matter and passed a resolution asking Sonia Gandhi to take over as interim president until a consensus candidate could be picked.[211][212] Following the election,Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was chosen as the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha,[213]Gaurav Gogoi was chosen as the deputy leader in Lok Sabha, andRavneet Singh Bittu was chosen as the party whip.[214] Based on an analysis of the candidates' poll affidavits, a report by the National Election Watch (NEW) and theAssociation for Democratic Reforms (ADR) says that, the Congress has highestpolitical defection rate since 2014. According to the report, a total of 222 electoral candidates had left the Congress to join other parties during elections held between 2014 and 2021, as 177 MPs and MLAs quit the party.[215] The defections resulted in a loss of the party's established governments inArunachal Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh,Goa,Karnataka,Puducherry, andManipur.
On 28 August 2022, theCongress Working Committee (CWC) held anelection for the next president of the INC, to succeed Rahul Gandhi. The election was held on 17 October 2022 and counting took place on 19 October 2022.[216] The candidates in the race were Kerala MPShashi Tharoor and Karnataka MPMallikarjun Kharge.[217] Mallikarjun Kharge won the election in a landslide,[1] securing 7,897 out of the 9,385 votes cast. His rival, Shashi Tharoor, secured 1,072 votes.[2]
Kharge led the party into the2024 Indian general election, where the party made significant gains inUttar Pradesh and several other states, ultimately securing 99 seats. This performance marked the party's best electoral result since 2014 and enabled Rahul Gandhi to assume the role of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The party also served as the principal opposition within theIndian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), a coalition formed in 2023.[218][219]
In thefirst parliamentary elections held in 1952, the INC won 364 seats, which was 76 per cent of the 479 contested seats.[220] The vote share of the INC was 45 per cent of all votes cast.[221] Till the1971 general elections, the party's voting percentage remain intact at 40 per cent. However, the1977 general elections resulted in a heavy defeat for the INC. Many notable INC party leader lost their seats, winning only 154 seats in the Lok Sabha.[222] The INC again returned to power in the1980 Indian general election securing a 42.7 per cent vote share of all votes, winning 353 seats. INC's vote share kept increasing till 1980 and then to a record high of 48.1 per cent by 1984/85.Rajiv Gandhi on assuming the post of prime minister in October 1984 recommendedearly elections. The general elections were to be held in January 1985; instead, they were held in December 1984. The Congress won an overwhelming majority, securing 415 seats out of 533, the largest ever majority in independent India's Lok Sabha elections history.[223] This winning recorded a vote share of 49.1 per cent resulting in an overall increase to 48.1 per cent. The party got 32.14 per cent of voters in polls held inPunjab andAssam in 1985.[221]
In November 1989, general elections were held to elect the members of the 9th Lok Sabha.[224] The Congress did badly in the elections, though it still managed to be the largest single party in the Lok Sabha. Its vote share started decreasing to 39.5 per cent in the 1989 general elections. The 13th Lok Sabha term was to end in October 2004, but theNational Democratic Alliance (NDA) government decided on early polls. The Lok Sabha was dissolved in February itself and the country went to the polls in April–May 2004. The INC, led by Sonia Gandhi unexpectedly emerged as the single largest party.[225] After the elections, Congress joined up with minor parties to form theUnited Progressive Alliance (UPA). The UPA with external support from theBahujan Samaj Party,Samajwadi Party, Kerala Congress, and the Left Front managed a comfortable majority.[225] Congress has lost nearly 20% of its vote share in general elections held between 1996 and 2009.[215]
Seats Won by INC in Indian General Elections over the years
The Congress party emphasisessocial equality,freedom,secularism, andequal opportunity.[248] Its political position is generally considered to be in the centre.[35] Historically, the party has represented farmers, labourers, andMahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).[249] The MGNREGA was initiated with the objective of "enhancing livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year, to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work." Another aim of MGNREGA is to create durable assets (such as roads, canals, ponds, and wells).[249]
The Congress has positioned itself as both pro-Hindu and protector of the minorities. The party supportsMahatma Gandhi's doctrine ofSarva Dharma Sama Bhava, collectively termed by its party members as secularism. Former Chief Minister of Punjab and senior Congress memberAmarinder Singh said, "India belongs to all religions, which is its strength, and the Congress would not allow anyone to destroy its cherished secular values."[250] On 9 November 1989, Rajiv Gandhi had allowedShilanyas (foundation stone-laying ceremony) adjacent to the then disputedRam Janmabhoomi site.[251] Subsequently, his government faced heavy criticism over the passing ofThe Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986, which nullified the Supreme Court's judgment in theShah Bano case. The1984 violence damaged the Congress's party moral argument over secularism. The BJP questioned the Congress party's moral authority in questioning it about the2002 Gujarat riots.[252] The Congress has distanced itself fromHindutva ideology, though the party has softened its stance after defeat in the 2014 and 2019 general elections.[253]
Under Narsimha Rao's premiership, thePanchayati Raj andMunicipal Government got constitutional status. With the enactment of the 73rd and 74th amendments to the constitution, a new chapter, Part- IX (Panchayats) and Part IX-A (Municipalities) added to the constitution.[254] States have been given the flexibility to take into consideration their geographical, politico-administrative, and other consideration while adopting the Panchayati-raj system. In both panchayats and municipal bodies, in an attempt to ensure that there is inclusiveness inlocal self-government, reservations for SC/ST and women were implemented.[255]
After independence, Congress advocated the idea of establishingHindi as the solenational language of India. TheConstitution of India, in Part XVII and specifically Article 351, addresses the promotion and development of Hindi. This article instructs theUnion to promote the spread of Hindi so that it can serve as a medium to express India’s diverse culture and be enriched by incorporating elements from other languages without losing its essential character. Nehru led the faction of the Congress party which promoted Hindi as thelingua franca of the Indian nation.[256] However, the non-Hindi-speaking Indian states, especiallyTamil Nadu, opposed it and wanted the continued use of the English language. Lal Bahadur Shastri's tenure witnessed several protests and riots including the Madrasanti-Hindi agitation of 1965.[257] Shashtri's appealed to agitators to withdraw the movement and assured them that the English would continue to be used as the official language as long as the non-Hindi speaking states wanted.[258] Indira Gandhi assuaged the sentiments of the non-Hindi speaking states by getting the Official Languages Act amended in 1967 to provide that the use of English could continue until a resolution to end the use of the language was passed by the legislature of every state that had not adopted use Hindi as its official language, and by each house of the Indian Parliament.[259] This was a guarantee of de facto use of both Hindi and English as official languages, thus establishing bilingualism in India.[260] The step led to the end of the anti-Hindi protests and riots in states.
Following theSupreme Court’s final 2018 decision to abolishSection 377, the INC reiterated that personal freedom must be upheld for all citizens. Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which, among other things, criminalises homosexuality; former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said, "Sexuality is a matter of personal freedom and should be left to individuals". Leading party figure and former Finance MinisterP. Chidambaram stated that theNavtej Singh Johar v. Union of India judgment must be quickly reversed". On 18 December 2015,Shashi Tharoor leading member of the party introduced aprivate member's bill to replace Section 377 in the Indian Penal Code and decriminalise consensual same-sex relations. The bill was defeated in the first reading. In March 2016, Tharoor again reintroduce the private member's bill to decriminalise homosexuality but was voted down for the second time.[261]
The economic policy of Congress-led governments can broadly be divided into two phases. The first phase, spanning from independence in 1947 to 1991, placed significant emphasis on the public sector as a driver of growth.[262] The second phase began with theeconomic liberalisation reforms of 1991, marking a shift towards market-oriented policies. At present, the Congress Party supports a mixed economy model, wherein both the state and the private sector play active roles—combining elements ofmarket andplanned economies. The party advocates for import substitution industrialisation, encouraging domestic production as a replacement for imports, while also supporting continued liberalisation to accelerate economic development.[263][264] It promotes aprogressive tax structure aimed at expanding public services and addressing economic inequality by ensuring that higher-income individuals contribute a fairer share in taxes.[265][266]
At the beginning of the first period, erstwhile prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru implemented policies based onimport substitution industrialisation and advocated amixed economy where the government-controlledpublic sector would co-exist with theprivate sector. He believed that the development and modernisation of India’s economy required the establishment of basic and heavy industries. The government, therefore, directed investment primarily into key public-sector industries—steel, iron, coal, and power—promoting their development with subsidies and protectionist policies. This period was called theLicence Raj, or Permit Raj,[267] which was the elaborate system oflicences, regulations, and accompanyingred tape that were required to set up and run businesses in India between 1947 and 1990.[268] The Licence Raj was a result of Nehru and his successors' desire to have aplanned economy where all aspects of the economy were controlled by the state, and licences were given to a select few. Private companies were required to obtain numerous approvals from various government departments before they could begin production, and even after receiving licences, their operations were closely regulated by the state. The government also prevented firms from laying off workers or closing factories.[269] The Licence Raj system continued under Indira Gandhi, during whose tenure key sectors such as banking, steel, coal, and oil were nationalised.[140][270] Under the premiership of Rajiv Gandhi, the first steps toward economic liberalisation were initiated.[271] These included a reduction in import duties, the introduction of export incentives, and the implementation of initial tax reforms. Restrictions on company assets were also relaxed during his administration.[271][272]
In 1991, the new Congress government, led byP. V. Narasimha Rao, initiated reforms to avert the impending1991 economic crisis.[185][273] The reforms known asNew Economic Policy (NEP) or "1991 economic reforms" or "LPG reforms", progressed furthest in opening up areas toforeign investment, reformingcapital markets,deregulating domestic business, and reforming the trade regime. The reforms were implemented during a time when India grappled with a balance of payments crisis, elevated inflation, underperforming public sector undertakings (PSUs), and a substantial fiscal deficit.[274] It also aimed to transition the economy from a socialist model to a market economy.[275] The goals of Rao's government were to reduce thefiscal deficit,privatise the public sector, and increase investment in infrastructure.[276] Trade reforms and changes in the regulation offoreign direct investment were introduced to open India to foreign trade while stabilising external loans.[277] Rao choseManmohan Singh for the job. Singh, an acclaimed economist and formergovernor of theReserve Bank of India, played a central role in implementing these reforms.[278]
In 2004, Singh became prime minister of the Congress-led UPA government. Singh remained prime minister after the UPA won the 2009 general elections. The UPA government introduced policies aimed at reforming the banking and financial sectors, as well as public sector companies.[279] It also introduced policies aimed at relieving farmers of their debt.[280] In 2005,Singh government introduced thevalue-added tax, replacing thesales tax. India was able to resist the worst effects of the globaleconomic crisis of 2008.[281][282] Singh's government continued theGolden Quadrilateral, the Indian highway modernisation program that was initiated byVajpayee's government.[283] Then Finance Minister of IndiaPranab Mukherjee implemented many tax reforms, notably scrapping theFringe Benefits Tax and the Commodities Transaction Tax.[284] He implemented theGoods and Services Tax (GST) during his tenure.[285] His reforms were well received by major corporate executives and economists. The introduction of retrospective taxation, however, has been criticised by some economists.[286] Mukherjee expanded funding for several social sector schemes including theJawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). He also supported budget increases for improvingliteracy and health care. He expanded infrastructure programmes such as theNational Highway Development Programme.[287] Electricity coverage was also expanded during his tenure. Mukherjee also reaffirmed his commitment to the principle of fiscal prudence as some economists expressed concern about the rising fiscal deficits during his tenure, the highest since 1991. Mukherjee declared the expansion in government spending was only temporary.[288]
National defence and home affairs
Manmohan Singh and his wife during the passing out parade at the Platinum Jubilee Course of IMA on 10 December 2007; with foreign gentleman cadets.
Since its independence, India was in pursuing of nuclear capabilities, as Nehru felt that nuclear energy could take the country forward and help achieve its developmental goals.[289] Consequently, Nehru began to seek assistance from the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.[290][291] In 1958 the government of India with the help ofHomi J. Bhabha adopted a three-phase power production plan and theNuclear Research Institute was established in 1954.[292] Indira Gandhi witnessed continuous nuclear testing byChina from 1964 onwards, which she considered an existential threat to India.[293][294] India conducted its first nuclear test in thePokhran desert in Rajasthan on 18 May 1974, under the nameOperation Smiling Buddha.[295] India asserted that the test was for "peaceful purposes", However, the test was criticised by other countries and the United States and Canada suspended all nuclear support to India.[296] Despite intense international criticism, the nuclear test was domestically popular and caused an immediate revival of Indira Gandhi's popularity, which had flagged considerably from its heights after the1971 war.[297][298]
On internal security and home affairs, the Congress party promotes a federal approach to governance, emphasising cooperative federalism. The transition to statehood for parts ofNortheast India was successfully overseen under Indira Gandhi's premiership.[299] In 1972, her administration granted statehood toMeghalaya, Manipur andTripura, while theNorth-East Frontier Agency was declared a union territory and renamedArunachal Pradesh.[300][301] This was followed by theannexation of Sikkim in 1975.[302] In the late 1960s and 1970s, Gandhi ordered the Indian army tomilitant Communist uprisings in the state of West Bengal. TheNaxalite–Maoist insurgency in India was entirely suppressed during thestate of emergency.[303] Rajiv Gandhi played a pivotal role in facilitating theMizoram Peace Accord of 1986 by personally supporting negotiations withMNF leaderLaldenga and advocating a peaceful, political solution.[304] His premiership ensured key concessions, including full statehood for Mizoram and the integration of former insurgents into democratic politics, leading to one of India's most successful peace settlements.[305]
Manmohan Singh's administration initiated a massive reconstruction effort in Kashmir to stabilise the region and strengthened anti-terrorism laws with amendments to theUnlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).[306] After a period of initial success, insurgent infiltration and terrorism in Kashmir have escalated since 2009. However, the Singh administration was successful in reducing terrorism in Northeast India.[307] Under the background of thePunjab insurgency, theTerrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) was passed. The aim of the law is mainly directed toward eliminating the infiltrators from Pakistan. The law gave wide powers tolaw enforcement agencies for dealing with national terrorist and socially disruptive activities. The police were not obliged to produce a detainee before a judicial magistrate within 24 hours. The law was widely criticised by human rights organisations. After theNovember 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, the UPA government created theNational Investigation Agency (NIA), in response to the need for a central agency to combat terrorism.[308] The Unique Identification Authority of India was established in February 2009 to implement the proposedMultipurpose National Identity Card, to increase national security.[309]
In 2005, The Congress-led government started the National Rural Health Mission, which employed about 500,000 community health workers. It was praised by economistJeffrey Sachs.[314] In 2006, it implemented a proposal to reserve 27 per cent of seats in the All India Institute of Medical Studies (AIIMS), theIndian Institutes of Technology (IITs), theIndian Institutes of Management (IIMs), and other central higher education institutions, forOther Backward Classes, which led to the2006 Indian anti-reservation protests.[315] The Singh government also continued theSarva Shiksha Abhiyan program, which includes the introduction and improvement of mid-day school meals and the opening of new schools throughout India, especially in rural areas, to fightilliteracy.[316] During Manmohan Singh's prime ministership, eight Institutes of Technology were opened in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Orissa, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Himachal Pradesh.[317]
The Congress party played a foundational role in shaping India's non-aligned foreign policy during theCold War, particularly under the leadership of Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru.[318][319] Nehru was one of the principal architects of theNon-Aligned Movement (NAM), which sought to maintain strategic autonomy by avoiding alignment with either theWestern orSoviet bloc.[320] Throughout much of the Cold War period, Congress supported a foreign policy of non-alignment that called for India to form ties with both the Western and Eastern Blocs, but to avoid formal alliances with either.[321] However, in 1971, amid growing U.S. support for Pakistan—including military aid and diplomatic backing—the Congress-led Indian government signedIndo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, marking a strategic shift toward theSoviet Union.[322]
Continuing the foreign policy initiated by P. V. Narasimha Rao, the Congress government pursued thepeace process with Pakistan, including high-level bilateral visits.[323] The UPA government has tried to end the border dispute with the People's Republic of China through negotiations.[324][325]Relations with Afghanistan have also been a concern for Congress.[326] During Afghan PresidentHamid Karzai's visit to New Delhi in August 2008, Manmohan Singh increased the aid package to Afghanistan for the development of schools, health clinics, infrastructure, and defence.[327] India is now one of the single largest aid donors to Afghanistan.[327] To nourish political, security, cultural and economical connections with central Asian countries, it launchedConnect Central Asia policy in 2012. This policy is aimed at strengthening and expanding India's relations withKazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan,Turkmenistan, andUzbekistan.Look East policy was initiated in 1992 byNarasimha Rao to cultivate extensive economic and strategic relations with the nations of Southeast Asia to bolster its standing as a regional power and a counterweight to the strategic influence of the People's Republic of China. Subsequently, in 1992 Rao decided to bring into open India's relations with Israel, which had been kept covertly active for a few years during his tenure as a Foreign Minister, and permitted Israel to open an embassy in New Delhi.[328] Rao decided to maintain a distance from theDalai Lama to avoid aggravating Beijing's suspicions and concerns, and made successful overtures toTehran.[329]
Even though the Congress foreign policy doctrine stands for maintaining friendly relations with all the countries of the world, it has always exhibited a special bias towards the Afro-Asian nations. It played active role in formingGroup of 77 (1964,Group of 15 (1990),Indian Ocean Rim Association, andSAARC. Indira Gandhi firmly tied Indian anti-imperialist interests in Africa to those of the Soviet Union. She openly and enthusiastically supported liberation struggles in Africa.[330] In April 2006, New Delhi hosted an India–Africa summit attended by the leaders of 15 African states.[331]
Congress' policy has been to cultivate friendly relations with Japan as well asEuropean Union countries including the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.[336] Diplomatic relations with Iran have continued, and negotiations over theIran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline have taken place.[337] Congress' policy has also been to improve relations with other developing countries, particularly Brazil and South Africa.[338] While in opposition, the leadership of the Indian National Congress backed the Indian government's stance to abstain from UN resolutions regarding theRusso-Ukrainian War.[339] In 2025, the Congress criticised Prime MinisterNarendra Modi for his stance onIsrael and theGaza war.[340]
At present, thepresident and theAll India Congress Committee (AICC) are elected by delegates from state and district parties at an annual national conference; in every Indian state and union territory—orpradesh—there is aPradesh Congress Committee (PCC),[341] which is the state-level unit of the party responsible for directing political campaigns at local and state levels, and assisting the campaigns for parliamentary constituencies.[342] Each PCC has a working committee of twenty members, most of whom are appointed by the party president, the leader of the state party, who is chosen by the national president. Those elected as members of the states' legislative assemblies form the Congress Legislature Parties in the various state assemblies; their chairperson is usually the party's nominee for Chief Ministership. The party is also organised into various committees, and sections; it publishes a daily newspaper, theNational Herald.[343] Despite being a party with a structure, Congress under Indira Gandhi did not hold any organisational elections after 1972.[344] Nonetheless, in 2004, when the Congress was voted back into power,Manmohan Singh became the first prime minister not to be the president of the party since establishment of the practice of the president holding both positions.[345]
The AICC is composed of delegates sent from the PCCs.[343] The delegates elect Congress committees, including theCongress Working Committee, consisting of senior party leaders and office-bearers. The AICC takes all-important executive and political decisions. Since Indira Gandhi formed Congress (I) in 1978, thePresident of the Indian National Congress has effectively been the party's national leader, head of the organisation, head of the Working Committee and all chief Congress committees, chief spokesman, and Congress' choice forPrime Minister of India. Constitutionally, the president is elected by the PCCs and members of the AICC; however, this procedure has often been bypassed by the Working Committee, which has elected its candidate.[343]
The Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) consists of elected MPs in the Lok Sabha andRajya Sabha. There is also a Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader in each state. The CLP consists of all CongressMembers of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in each state. In cases of states where the Congress is single-handedly ruling the government, the CLP leader in thechief minister. Other directly affiliated groups include:
All India Congress Minority Department, also referred to as Minority Congress is the minority wing of the Congress party. It is represented by thePradesh Congress Minority Department in all thestates of India.[348]
Election symbols
Election symbol of Congress (R) party during the period 1971–1977
As of 2021[update], theelection symbol of Congress, as approved by theElection Commission of India, is an image of a right hand with its palm facing front and its fingers pressed together;[349] this is usually shown in the centre of a tricolor flag. The hand symbol was first used by Indira Gandhi when she split from the Congress (R) faction following the 1977 elections and created the New Congress (I).[350] The hand is symbolic of strength, energy, and unity.
The party under the stewardship of Nehru had the symbol 'Pair of bullocks carrying a yoke' which struck a chord with masses who were predominantly farmers.[351] In 1969, due to internal conflicts within the Congress party, Indira Gandhi decided to break out and form a party of her own, with the majority of the Congress party members in support of her in the new party which was named Congress(R). The symbol of Indira'sCongress (R) or Congress (Requisitionists) during the 1971–1977 period was a cow with a suckling calf.[352][138] After losing the support of 76 out of the party's 153 members in the Lok Sabha, Indira's new political outfit the Congress (I) or Congress (Indira) evolved and she opted for the hand (open palm) symbol.
Dynasticism
Dynasticism is fairly common in manypolitical parties in India, including the Congress party.[353] Six members of theNehru–Gandhi family have been presidents of the party.[354] The party started being controlled by Indira Gandhi's family duringthe emergency with her younger son,Sanjay Gandhi, taking on a prominent role.[355] This was characterised by servility and sycophancy towards the family which later led to a hereditary succession of Rajiv Gandhi as successor after Indira Gandhi's assassination, as well as the party's selection of Sonia Gandhi as Rajiv's successor after his assassination, which she turned down.[356] Since the formation of Congress (I) by Indira Gandhi in 1978 till 2022, the party president has been from her family except for the period between 1991 and 1998. In the last three elections to the Lok Sabha combined, 37 per cent of Congress party MPs had family members precede them in politics.[357] However, in recent times there have been calls from within the party to restructure the organisation. A group of senior leaders wrote a letter to the party president to reform the Congress allowing others to take charge. There was also visible discontent following the loss in the2019 election after which agroup of 23 senior leaders wrote to the Congress President to restructure the party.[358]
Former chief minister of Mysore and former governor. Elected as the fifth vice president in 1974 defeating his nearest rivalNiral Enem Horo. Became Acting President on 11 February 1977 following the demise of presidentFakhruddin Ali Ahmed and served in the acting capacity till the election ofNeelam Sanjiva Reddy in July 1977. Retired as vice president upon completion of tenure in 1979.
Former union minister. Elected as the seventh vice president in 1984 after defeatingB. C. Kamble in the vice presidential election. As vice president, he played important role in being deputed for president on making diplomatic visits and acting as a mediator for then prime ministerRajiv Gandhi and presidentZail Singh. Resigned from the vice presidency on the eve of assuming office as the President on 25 July 1987.
Former union minister. Elected unopposed as the eighth vice president in 1987 to fill the vacancy caused by the election of then vice president Ramasamy Venkataraman as the President. He resigned as the vice president in 1992 after being elected as the President.
Former diplomat and former union minister. Elected as the ninth vice president in 1992 defeating his rival candidateJoginder Singh. First Dalit vice president of India. Resigned from the vice presidency in 1997 after being elected as the President.
Former diplomat. Elected as the twelfth vice president in 2007. Re-elected to office for a second term in 2012 by defeating his rival candidateJaswant Singh. First and only vice president sinceSarvepalli Radhakrishnan to be re-elected to office and the longest-serving vice president. Retired from office upon completion of tenure on 11 August 2017, becoming the first vice president to serve under three presidents.
Legislative leaders
The Congress party has played a pivotal role in shaping India's political landscape, with prominent leaders such asJawaharlal Nehru,Indira Gandhi, andManmohan Singh as serving the country's longest-servingprime ministers and contributing significantly to the nation's development.Gulzarilal Nanda took office in 1966 following the death ofLal Bahadur Shastri for 13 days as theacting Prime Minister of India.[371] His earlier 13-day stint as the second Prime Minister of India followed the death of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964. Indira Gandhi, the first and so far the only woman Prime Minister of India, served the second-longest term as a prime minister.[372]Rajiv Gandhi served from 1984 to 1989, taking office on the day of theassassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984. At age 40, he was the youngest PM of India and was known for economic reforms during his tenure.PV Narasimha Rao served as the 10th Prime Minister of India and was the first PM fromsouthern India.[373]Manmohan Singh served two complete terms as Prime Minister and headed the coalition governments twice.
^ Tally includes 2 Independent MPs who are members of INC.
^"The first modern nationalist movement to arise in the non-European empire, and one that became an inspiration for many others, was the Indian Congress."[31]
^"South Asian parties include several of the oldest in the post-colonial world, foremost among them the 129-year-old Indian National Congress that led India to independence in 1947"[33]
^"The organization that led India to independence, the Indian National Congress, was established in 1885."[34]
^"... anti-colonial movements ... which, like many other nationalist movements elsewhere in the empire, were strongly influenced by the Indian National Congress."[31]
^abJean-Pierre Cabestan, Jacques deLisle, ed. (2013).Inside India Today (Routledge Revivals).Routledge.ISBN978-1-135-04823-5.... were either guarded in their criticism of the ruling party – the centrist Indian National Congress – or attacked it almost invariably from a rightist position. This was so for political and commercial reasons, which are explained, ...
^abSaez, Lawrence; Sinha, Aseema (2010). "Political cycles, political institutions and public expenditure in India, 1980–2000".British Journal of Political Science.40 (1):91–113.doi:10.1017/s0007123409990226.ISSN0007-1234.S2CID154767259.
^Moore, R. J. (1969). "Daniel Argov: Moderates and extremists in the Indian nationalist movement,1883–1920, with special reference to Surendranath Banerjea and Lajpat Raj. xix, 246 pp., 2 Plates. london: Asia Publishing House, [1968]. 45s".Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies.32 (1). Cambridge University Press (CUP): 230.doi:10.1017/s0041977x00094507.ISSN0041-977X.
^Richard Sisson; Stanley A. Wolpert (1988).Congress and Indian Nationalism: The Pre-independence Phase. University of California Press. p. 21.ISBN978-0-520-06041-8.Those fewer than 100 English-educated gentlemen of means and property, mostly lawyers and journalists, could hardly claim to 'represent' some 250 million illiterate impoverished peasants
^Richard Sisson; Stanley A. Wolpert (1988).Congress and Indian Nationalism: The Pre-independence Phase. University of California Press. pp. 22–23.ISBN978-0-520-06041-8.Without any funds or any secretariat, however (other than Hume) Congress remained, during its first decade at least, more of a sounding board for elite Indian aspirations than a political party.
^VISANA, VIKRAM (12 January 2016). "Vernacular Liberalism, Capitalism, and Anti-Imperialism in the Political Thought of Dadabhai Naoroji".The Historical Journal.59 (3). Cambridge University Press (CUP):775–797.doi:10.1017/s0018246x15000230.ISSN0018-246X.
^Marston, Daniel (2014).The Indian Army and the End of the Raj. Cambridge Studies in Indian History and Society, 23. Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-89975-8.
^George McTurnan Kahin; Harold C. Hinton (1958).Major governments of Asia.Cornell University Press. p. 439.
^Moshe Y. Sachs (1967).Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations: Asia and Australasia. Worldmark Press.
^Richard Sisson; Leo E. Rose (1991).War and Secession: Pakistan, India and the Creation of Bangladesh. University of California Press. pp. 1–15.ISBN978-0-520-07665-5.
^abSuranjan Das (2001)."Nehru Years in Indian Politics"(PDF). School of Social and Political Science, Edinburgh. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved23 June 2014.
^Forrester, Duncan B. (1966). "The Madras anti-Hindi agitation".Pacific Affairs.39 (1/2). Digital library of academic journals:19–36.doi:10.2307/2755179.JSTOR2755179.
^"On 1 and 2 January dissidents led by Indira Gandhi staged convention of what they claimed was "the real Congress." Mrs. Gandhi was elected President of the body, which promptly laid claim to the offices, funds and even the electoral symbol of the Indian National Congress. These claims were, unsurprisingly, resisted by Y.B. Chavan and his group, who had controlled Congress since the I977 election. Initial reports varied but it seemed that no more than a third of the State Congress Committees sided with the Indira Gandhi faction."Mendelsohn, Oliver (1978). "The Collapse of the Indian National Congress".Pacific Affairs.58 (1): 65.doi:10.2307/2757008.JSTOR2757008.
^Joseph, Paul (11 October 2016).The Sage Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives. Sage. p. 433.ISBN978-1483359885.around 17,000 Sikhs were burned alive or killed
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Indian National Congress: A Select Bibliography, by Manikrao Hodlya Gavit, Attar Chand. Published by U.D.H. Pub. House, 1989.ISBN81-85044-05-8.
The Story of Congress PilgrFile: 1885–1985, by A. Moin Zaidi, Indian National Congress. Published by Indian Institute of Applied Political Research, 1990.ISBN81-85355-46-0. (7 vols)
Indian National Congress in England, by Harish P. Kaushik. Published by Friends Publications, 1991.
Women in Indian National Congress, 1921–1931, by Rajan Mahan. Published by Rawat Publications, 1999.
History of Indian National Congress, 1885–2002, by Deep Chand Bandhu. Published by Kalpaz Publications, 2003.ISBN81-7835-090-4.
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