List of Indian National Congress Sessions & Their Presidents

The first session of Indian National Congress Session was held in 1885. Check the complete List of Indian National Congress Sessions, Their Presidents & Importance in this article for UPSC Exam.

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Indian National Congress Sessions

The Indian National Congress (INC), which was established in 1885, went on to become one of the most significant political organizations in pre-independence India. The INC’s inaugural meeting took place in 1885. Starting out as a place that only employed the cream of India’s educated population. With great leaders like Lajpat Rai, Tilak, Gandhi, Nehru, Bose, and others, it developed into a party of citizens in the ensuing years. Understanding the times and the president of the Indian National Congress sessions is crucial. Additionally, decisions and demands made during these meetings are crucial for the Civil Service Exams.

The Indian National Congress Sessions is an important part of Indian Polity which is an important subject in UPSC Syllabus. Students can also go for UPSC Mock Test to get more accuracy in their preparations.

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Indian National Congress Sessions History

The INC’s inaugural meeting was scheduled for Poona. The location was later changed to Bombay (current-day Mumbai), due to an outbreak of the epidemic in Poona. The lesson was held at the Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit Pathshala in Bombay. A few significant requests from the Indian party were made known to the British after the first meeting. Certain of them are:-

To appoint a committee to investigate how the Indian Administration is performing. In addition, the Indian Commission, which had its headquarters in London, ought to be disbanded.
Those who were regarded as moderates questioned the Secretary of State’s power to run India. They clamoured for the establishment of a legislative assembly for the NWFP, Sindh, and Awadh.
The assembly wanted to increase the number of Indian members so that it could better serve the needs of the Indian people. They desired to give Indians the authority to debate the budget and the freedom to criticise the governance.
The request to concurrently conduct the civil services examination in India and England and the modification of military expenditure.

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Indian National Congress Sessions List

The need for an all-India organisation has been recognised by educated Indians since 1880, but the Ilbert Bill controversy heightened this desire. With the establishment of the Indian National Congress, one of the most important political organisations of the 20th century was formed (INC). Since then, the INC has played a significant part in the political landscape of the nation. All of the Indian National Congress’s Sessions from 1885 to 1947 are listed below.

Year	Location	President	Importance
1885	Bombay	W C Bonnerjee	1st session was attended by 72 delegates
1886	Calcutta	Dadabhai Naoroji	National Congress and National Conference
1887	Madras	Syed Badruddin Tyabji	An appeal was 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	The national song ‘Vande Mataram’ sung for the first time in this session.
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 anger at Bengal’s partition.
1906	Calcutta	Dadabhai Naoroji	The word ‘Swaraj’ was mentioned for the first time
1907	Surat	Rash Behari Ghosh	The party splits into extremists and moderates
1908	Madras	Rash Behari Ghosh	The previous session continued
1909	Lahore	Madan Mohan Malaviya	Indian Councils Act, 1909/Morley-Minto Reforms
1910	Allahabad	Sir William Wedderburn	–
1911	Calcutta	Bishan Narayan Dhar	‘Jana Gana Mana’ sung for the first time in this session
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)	The first woman president of the INC was announced in this session
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 was strongly condemned in this session
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)	A 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.” Movement for full independence to be started through civil disobedience; 26 January to be observed as “Independence Day.”
1930	No Session	–	–
1931	Karachi	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel	resolution on national economic development and basic rights. Irwin-Gandhi Pact is approved. Gandhi is proposed as the INC representative at the second round table meeting.
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	Despite being elected, Bose was forced to retire because Gandhi backed Pattabhi Sitaramayya. Rajendra Prasad was substituted for
1940	Ramgarh	Abul Kalam Azad	–
1941-45	–	–	No session because of arrest
1946	Meerut	Acharya Kripalani	Last session before the independence
1948	Jaipur	Pattabhi Sitaramayya	The first session after the independence
1950	Nashik	Purushottam Das Tandon	Resigned in 1951; Nehru became President

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Indian National Congress Sessions UPSC

Additionally, A.O. Hume had a significant role in bringing together Indians from diverse places. The Indian National Congress was founded in an effort to advance the process of nation-building. It was planned to rotate the Congress session across the nation in order to reach all regions. The President’s region differed from the one where the Congress was convening. The Congress aided in the liberation of India from British rule and greatly influenced subsequent anti-colonial nationalist organisations around the British Empire. Due to its lengthy history, the Congress is referred to as the “great old party”. Students can read all the details related to UPSC by visiting the official website of StudyIQ UPSC Online Coaching.

Indian National Congress Sessions FAQs

When and which session of Indian National Congress declared?

The Congress Party chose January 26 to be "Independence Day" for Indians, and a public announcement was made on that day. Purna Swaraj Diwas was proclaimed on January 26, 1930.