A political party recently marked the  138th foundation day of Indian National Congress (INC) on December 28.

How the INC was founded?

• The INC came into being on December 28, 1885.
• The English bureaucrat Allan Octavian Hume is credited as the founder of the organisation.
• On that day, 72 social reformers, journalists and lawyers congregated for the first session of the INC at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, Bombay.
• Stated objectives of INC included-

1. First, the fusion into one national whole of all the different elements that constitute the population of India.
2. Second, the gradual regeneration along all lines, spiritual, moral, social, and political, of the nation thus evolved; and
3. Third, the consolidation, of, the union between England and India.

Real motive behind: ‘Safety Valve’ Theory

• At that point, the aim of this group was not to demand independence from the ongoing colonial rule but to influence the policies of the British government in favour of Indians.
• Its objective is often described as providing a “safety valve” as the time, through which Indians could air out their grievances and frustration.
• As Mr. Hume explained, the: Congress organization was ‘only one outcome of the labours of a body of cultured men, mostly Indians, who hound themselves together to labour silently for the good of India.’

Transformation towards freedom movement

Ans. Famous for 3P’s: Prayers, Protest and Petitions

• The party’s work continued, to shift the colonial administrators’ attitudes and policies on the rights and powers allowed to Indians.
• The members frequently protested issues of British colonialism, such as the Bengal famine and the drain of wealth from India.
• However, these protests were at this point usually limited to prayers, petitions and protests, including writing letters to the authorities.
• As the British rule continued, there grew differences in what the party’s functioning should be like.

Strength of INC

• Diverse participation: One of the biggest strengths of the party, which helped it appeal to a broad section of Indian society, was having members who held different ideological positions.
• Pan-India organization: Its popularity grew across every corner of India.

Early criticism of INC

• Non-effective: Hume and the party were criticised, by the British for attempting to change the existing systems that favoured them and by some Indians for not achieving significant results.
• Elite-organization: The party largely consisted of educated, upper-class people who were likely to have studied abroad.

Splits and reconvening

• In Surat in 1906, the divisions between the ‘moderates’ led by Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Surendranath Banerjea, and the ‘extremists’ led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak came to the fore and there was a split.
• While Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai wanted the Congress to boycott the visit of the Prince of Wales in protest against the Bengal Partition a year prior, the moderates opposed any such move.
• But by 1915, the Bombay session saw these two groups coming together again as one.
• The pattern of splits and eventual cohesion continued well after Indian independence, even after the party came to completely dominate successive general elections under PM Jawaharlal Nehru.

Important sessions of INC

Try this PYQ:

Q.Consider the following statements

1. The first woman President of the Indian National Congress was Sarojini Naidu.
2. The first Muslim President of the Indian National Congress was Badruddin Tyabji.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

 

Post your answers here.

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