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History of the Indian National Congress From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The flag adopted in 1931 and used by theProvisional Government of Free India during the Second World War.

Nationalists on the Salt March

From its foundation on 28 December 1885 until the time of independence of India on 15 August 1947,

the Indian National Congress was the largest and most prominent Indian public organization, and

central and defining influence of the Indian Independence Movement.

Although initially and primarily a political body, the Congress transformed itself into a national vehicle

for social reform and human upliftment. The Congress was the strongest foundation and defining

influence of modern Indian nationalism.

Contents

[hide]

1 1885–1907

o 1.1 Reactions

o 1.2 Rise of Indian nationalism

2 World War I: the battle for the soul

o 2.1 Champaran and Kheda

o 2.2 The Battle for the soul

3 The Gandhi era

o 3.1 Expansion and re-organization

o 3.2 Social development

4 Ascendance to power (1937–1942)

o 4.1 The "Traditionalists"

5 The final battles

o 5.1 Quit India

o 5.2 Indian National Army Trials

o 5.3 Royal Indian Navy Mutiny

o 5.4 Partition of India

6 1947 – 1952: transformation

o 6.1 Constitution

o 6.2 Leadership change

7 References

8 Further reading

9 See also

1885–1907 [edit]

Allan Octavian Hume

Founded upon the suggestion of British civil servant Allan Octavian Hume, the Congress was created

to form a platform for civic and political dialogue of educated Indians with the British Raj. After the First

War of Indian Independence and the transfer of India from the East India Company to the British

Empire, it was the goal of the Raj to support and justify its governance of India with the aid of English-

educated Indians, who would be familiar and friendly to British culture and political thinking. Ironically,

a few of the reasons the Congress grew and survived in the era of undisputed British hegemony, was

through the patronage of British authorities, Anglo-Indians and a rising Indian educated class.The

theory of safety valve has also been associated with the birth of congress. It says that congress

provided a platform to Indians to bring out their resentment vocally. Its initial aim was to divert the

minds of Indians from any sort of physical violence.

Hume embarked on an endeavour to get an organization started by reaching-out to selected alumni of

the University of Calcutta, writing in his 1883 letter that, "Every nation secures precisely as good a

Government as it merits. If you the picked men, the most highly educated of the nation, cannot,

scorning personal ease and selfish objects, make a resolute struggle to secure greater freedom for

yourselves and your country, a more impartial administration, a larger share in the management of

your own affairs, then we, your friends, are wrong and our adversaries right, then are Lord Ripon's

noble aspirations for your good fruitless and visionary, then, at present at any rate all hopes of

progress are at an end and India truly neither desires nor deserves any better Government than she

enjoys."[1]

In May 1885, Hume secured the Viceroy's approval to create an "Indian National Union", which would

be affiliated with the government and act as a platform to voice Indian public opinion. On 12 October

1885, Hume and a group of educated Indians also published "An Appeal from the People of India to

the Electors of Great Britain and Ireland" to ask British voters in 1885 British general election to help

support candidates sympathetic to Indian public opinion, which included opposition to the levying of

taxes on India to finance the British Indian campaigns in Afghanistan and support for legislative reform

in India.[2]

The appeal was a failure, and was interpreted by many Indians as "a rude shock, but a true

realization that they had to fight their battles alone."[3]

On 28 December 1885, the Indian National

Congress was founded at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Bombay, with 72 delegates in

attendance. Hume assumed office as the General Secretary, and Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee of

Calcutta was elected President.[2]

Besides Hume, two additional British members (both Scottish civil

servants) were members of the founding group, William Wedderburn and Justice (later, Sir) John

Jardine. The other members were mostly Hindus from the Bombay and Madras Presidencies.[2]

Though there has been discussion over the fact that the congress was founded by a retired civil

servant and not by Indian G.K.Gokhale with his characteristic modesty and political wisdom, stated this

explicitly in 1913: "No Indian could have started the Indian National Congress...if an Indian had come

forward to start such a movement embracing all Indians, the officials in India would not have allowed

the movement to come into existence. If the founder of the Congress had not been an Englishman and

a distinguished ex-official, such was the distrust of political agitation in those days that the authorities

would have at once found some way or the other to suppress the movement"""

Reactions [edit]

Many Muslim community leaders, like the prominent educationalist Syed Ahmed Khan, viewed the

Congress negatively, owing to its membership being dominated by Hindus. The

Orthodox Hindu community and religious leaders were also averse, seeing the Congress as supportive

of Western cultural invasion.

The ordinary people of India were not informed or concerned of its existence on the whole, for the

Congress never attempted to address the issues of poverty, lack of health care, social oppression and

the prejudiced negligence of the people's concerns by British authorities. The perception of bodies like

the Congress was that of an elitist, then educated and wealthy people's institution.

Rise of Indian nationalism [edit]

First session of Indian National Congress, Bombay, 28–31, December, 1885.

Lokmanya Tilak was the first to embrace Swaraj as the national goal. The first spurts of nationalistic

sentiment that rose amongst Congress members were when the desire to be represented in the bodies

of government, to have a say, a vote in the lawmaking and issues of administration of India.

Congressmen saw themselves as loyalists, but wanted an active role in governing their own country,

albeit as part of the Empire.

This trend was personified by Dadabhai Naoroji, considered by many as the eldest Indian statesman.

Naoroji went as far as contesting, successfully, an election to the British House of Commons,

becoming its first Indian member. That he was aided in his campaign by young, aspiring Indian student

activists like Muhammad Ali Jinnah, describes where the imagination of the new Indian generation lay.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak was among the first Indian nationalists to embrace Swaraj as the destiny of the

nation. Tilak deeply opposed the British education system that ignored and defamed India's culture,

history and values, defying and disgracing the India culture. He resented the denial of freedom of

expression for nationalists, and the lack of any voice or role for ordinary Indians in the affairs of their

nation. For these reasons, he considered Swaraj as the natural and only solution in the abandonment

of all the British things and to protect the Indian economy from the diabolic exploitation of the British,

and their biased and discriminatory policies . He was backed by rising public leaders like Bipin

Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai, who held the same point of view. Under them, India's three great

states – Maharashtra, Bengal and Punjab region shaped the demand of the people and India's

nationalism.

The moderates, led by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta and Dadabhai Naoroji held firm to

calls for negotiations and political dialogue. Gokhale criticized Tilak for encouraging acts of violence

and disorder. But the Congress of 1906 did not have public membership, and thus Tilak and his

supporters were forced to leave the party.

But with Tilak's arrest, all hopes for an Indian offensive were stalled. The Congress lost credit with the

people, while Muslims were alarmed with the rise of Tilak's Hindu nationalism, and formed the All India

Muslim League in 1906,sponsored by British Raj, considering the Congress as completely unsuitable

for Indian Muslims.

World War I: the battle for the soul [edit]

Annie Besant was by far the most prominently involved European in the Indian struggle

When the British entered the British Indian Army into World War I, it provoked the first definitive,

nationwide political debate of its kind in India. Voices calling for political independence grew in number.

The divided Congress re-united in the pivotal Lucknow session in 1916, with Bal Gangadhar Tilak and

Gopal Krishna Gokhale adorning the stage together once again. Tilak had considerably moderated his

views, and now favoured political dialogue with the British. He, along with the young Muhammad Ali

Jinnah and Mrs. Annie Besant launched the Home Rule Movement to put forth Indian demands

for Home Rule – Indian participation in the affairs of their own country – a precursor to Swaraj. The All

India Home Rule League was formed to demand dominion status within the Empire.

But another Indian man with another way was destined to lead the Congress and the Indian

struggle. Mohandas Gandhi was a lawyer who had successfully led the struggle of Indians in South

Africa against British discriminatory laws. Returning to India in 1916, Gandhi looked to Indian culture

and history, the values and lifestyle of its people to empower a new revolution, with the art of non-

violent civil disobedience he coined Satyagraha. Ibrar A Khan

Champaran and Kheda [edit]

Main article: Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha

Mahatma Gandhi's success in defeating the British in Champaran and Kheda gave India its first victory

in the struggle for freedom. Indians gained confidence that the British would be thwarted, and millions

of young people from across the country flooded into Congress membership.

The Battle for the soul [edit]

A whole class of political leaders disagreed with Gandhi. Bipin Chandra Pal, Muhammad Ali

Jinnah, Annie Besant, Bal Gangadhar Tilak all criticized the idea of civil disobedience. But Gandhi had

the backing of the people and a whole new generation of Indian nationalists. In a series of sessions in

1918, 1919 and 1920, where the old and the new generations clashed in famous and important

debates, Gandhi and his young supporters imbued the Congress rank-and-file with passion and

energy to combat British rule directly. With the tragedy of the 1919 Amritsar Massacreand the riots in

Punjab, Indian anger and passions were palpable and radical. With the election of Mohandas Gandhi

to the presidency of the Indian National Congress, the battle of the party's soul was won, and a new

path to India's destiny forged.

Motilal Nehru, Lala Lajpat Rai and some other stalwarts backed Gandhi. Lokmanya Tilak, whom

Gandhi had called The Father of Modern India died in 1920, and Gopal Krishna Gokhale had died four

years earlier. Thus it was now entirely up to Gandhi's Congress to show the way for the nation.

The Gandhi era [edit]

Mohandas Gandhi gave rise to a whole new generation of nationalists, and a whole new form of revolution.

See also: Mahatma Gandhi, Satyagraha, Gandhism

Expansion and re-organization [edit]

In the years after the World War, the membership of the Congress expanded considerably, owing to

public excitement after Gandhi's success in Champaran and Kheda. A whole new generation of

leaders arose from different parts of India, who were committed Gandhians – Sardar Vallabhbhai

Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, Narhari Parikh,Mahadev

Desai – as well as hot-blooded nationalists aroused by Gandhi's active leadership – Chittaranjan

Das, Subhas Chandra Bose, Srinivasa Iyengar.

Gandhi transformed the Congress from an elitist party based in the cities, to an organization of the

people:

Membership fees were considerably reduced.

Congress established a large number of state units across India – known as Pradesh Congress

Committees – based on its own configuration of India's states on basis of linguistic groups. PCCs

emerged for Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat – states that did not yet exist and were spread over

hundreds of princely states outside British India.

All former practices distinguishing Congressmen on basis of caste, ethnicity, religion and sex were

eliminated – all-India unity was stressed.

Native tongues were given official use and respect in Congress meetings – especially Hindustani,

which was adopted for use by the All India Congress Committee.

Leadership posts and offices at all levels would be filled by elections, not appointments. This

introduction of democracy was vital in rejuvenating the party, giving voice to ordinary members as

well as valuable practice for Indians in democracy.

Eligibility for leadership would be determined by how much social work and service a member had

done, not by his wealth or social standing.

Social development [edit]

During the 1920s, M.K. Gandhi encouraged tens of thousands of Congress volunteers to embrace a

wide variety of organized tasks to address major social problems across India. Under the guidance of

Congress committees and Gandhi's network of ashrams in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar

Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu, the Congress attacked:

Untouchability and caste discrimination

Alcoholism

Unhygienic conditions and lack of sanitation

Lack of health care and medical aid

Purdah and the oppression of women

Illiteracy, with the organization of national schools and colleges

Poverty, with proliferating khadi cloth, cottage industries

Ascendance to power (1937–1942) [edit]

An old building in Katni commemorating India's freedom, with statues of Nehru, Gandhi and Subhas Chandra Bose

Under the Government of India Act 1935, the Congress first tasted political power in the provincial

elections of 1937. It performed very well, coming to power in eight of the eleven provinces where

elections were held. Its internal organization bloomed in the diversity of political attitudes and

ideologies. The focus would change slightly from the single-minded devotion to complete

independence, to also entertaining excitement and theorizing about the future governance of the

nation. However, when the Viceroy Lord Linlithgow declared India a belligerent in World War II without

any consultation with the elected representatives of the people, the Congress ministries resigned.

The radical followers of Subhas Chandra Bose, believers in socialism and active revolution would

ascend in the hierarchy with Bose's 1938 election to the Congress presidency.

The "Traditionalists" [edit]

According to one approach, the traditionalist point of view, though not in a political sense, was

represented in Congressmen like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, C.Rajagopalachari,

Purushottam Das Tandon, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Maulana Azad, who were also associates

and followers of Gandhi. Their organizational strength, achieved through leading the clashes with the

government, was undisputed and proven when despite winning the 1939 election, Bose resigned the

Congress presidency because of the lack of confidence he enjoyed amongst national leaders. A year

earlier, in the 1938 election, however, Bose had been elected with the support of Gandhi. Differences

arose in 1939 on whether Bose should have a second term. Jawaharlal Nehru, who Gandhi had

always preferred to Bose, had had a second term earlier. Bose's own differences centred on the place

to be accorded to non-violent as against revolutionary methods. When he set up his Indian National

Army in South-east Asia during the Second World War, he invoked Gandhi's name and hailed him as

the Father of The Nation. It would be wrong to suggest that the so-called traditionalist leaders looked

merely to the ancient heritage of Indian, Asian or, in the case of Maulana Azad and Khan Abdul

Ghaffar Khan, Islamic civilization for inspiration. They believed, along with educationists like Zakir

Husain and E W Aryanayakam, that education should be imparted in a manner that enables the

learners also to be able to make things with their own hands and learn skills that would make them

self-supporting. This method of education was also adopted in some areas in Egypt. (See Reginald

Reynolds, Beware of Africans). Zakir Husain was inspired by some European educationists and was

able, with Gandhi's support, to dovetail this approach to the one favoured by the Basic Education

method introduced by the Indian freedom movement. They believed that the education system,

economy and social justice model for a future nation should be designed to suit the specific local

requirements. While most were open to the benefits of Western influences and the socio-economic

egalitarianism of socialism, they were opposed to being defined by either model.

The final battles [edit]

The last important episodes in the Congress involved the final step to independence, and the division

of the country on religious lines.

Quit India [edit]

See also: Quit India Movement

Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari, the prominent leader from Tamil Nadu resigned from the Congress to

actively advocate supporting the British war effort.

Indian National Army Trials [edit]

During the INA trials of 1946, the Congress helped to form the INA Defence Committee, which

forcefully defended the case of the soldiers of the Azad Hind government. The committee declared the

formation of the Congress' defence team for the INA and included famous lawyers of the time,

including Bhulabhai Desai, Asaf Ali, and Jawaharlal Nehru. QUIT INDIA BILL passed on 8 Aug 1942.

Royal Indian Navy Mutiny [edit]

Some members of the Congress initially supported the sailors who led the Royal Indian Navy Mutiny.

However they withdrew support at the critical juncture, when the mutiny failed.

Partition of India [edit]

Within the Congress, the Partition was opposed by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Saifuddin Kitchlew, Dr.

Khan Sahib and Congressmen from the provinces that would inevitably become parts of

Pakistan. Maulana Azad was opposed to partition in principle, but did not wish to impede the national

leadership.

1947 – 1952: transformation [edit]

Constitution [edit]

The last serie

In the Assembly and Constitution debates, the Congress attitude was marked by inclusiveness and

liberalism. The Government appointed some prominent Indians who were Raj loyalists and liberals to

important offices, and did not adopt any punitive control over the Indian civil servants who had aided

the Raj in its governance of India and suppression of nationalist activities.

A Congress-dominated Assembly adopted B.R. Ambedkar, a fierce Congress critic as the chairman of

the Constitution draft committee. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, a Hindu Mahasabha leader became the

Minister for Industry.

The Congress stood firm on its fundamental promises and delivered a Constitution that abolished

untouchability and discrimination based on caste, religion or gender. Primary education was made a

right, and Congress governments made the zamindar system illegal, created minimum wages and

authorized the right to strike and form labor unions.

Leadership change [edit]

In 1947, the Congress presidency passed upon Jivatram Kripalani, a veteran Gandhian and ally of

both Nehru and Patel. India's duumvirate expressed neutrality and full support to the elected winner of

the 1947, 1948 and 1949 presidential races.

However, a tug of war began between Nehru and his socialist wing, and Patel and Congress

traditionalists broke out in 1950's race. Nehru lobbied intensely to oppose the candidacy

of Purushottam Das Tandon, whom he perceived as aHindu revivalist with "problematic" views on

Hindu-Muslim relations. Nehru openly backed Kripalani to oppose Tandon, but neglected courtesy to

Patel upon the question.

With Patel's tacit support (especially in Patel's home state of Gujarat, where due to Patel's work,

Kripalani received not one vote) Tandon won a tight contest, and Nehru threatened to resign. With

Patel's convincing, Nehru did not quit.

However, with Patel's death in 1950, the balance shifted permanently in Nehru's favor. Kripalani, C.

Rajagopalachari and Tandon were marginalized, and the Congress Party's election fortunes began

depending solely on Nehru's leadership and popularity. With the 1952 election sweep, the Congress

became India's main political party.

References [edit]

1. ^ B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya (1935), The History of the Indian National Congress, Working

Committee of the Congress

2. ^ a b c John F. Riddick (2006), The history of British India: a chronology, Greenwood Publishing

Group, ISBN 0-313-32280-5

3. ^ Madhvi Yasin (1996), Emergence of nationalism, Congress, and separatism, Raj

Publications, ISBN 81-86208-05-4

Further reading [edit]

Patel: A Life Rajmohan Gandhi

My Autobiography, or The Story of My Experiments with Truth, M.K. Gandhi

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Narhari Parikh

See also [edit]

Indian nationalism, Indian Independence Movement

Satyagraha, Gandhism

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Indian independence movement

Indian National Congress From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not to be confused with Indian National Congress (Organisation).

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss

these issues on the talk page.

This article's factual accuracy is disputed. (June 2012)

The neutrality of this article is disputed. (June 2012)

Indian National Congress

Chairperson Sonia Gandhi

Parliamentary Chairperson Sonia Gandhi

Leader in Lok Sabha Sushilkumar Shinde[1]

Leader in Rajya Sabha Manmohan Singh

(Prime Minister)

Founded 1885

Headquarters 24, Akbar Road, New Delhi

Newspaper Congress Sandesh

Student wing National Students Union of India

Youth wing Indian Youth Congress

Women's wing Mahila Congress

Labour wing Indian National Trade Union Congress

Ideology Populism

Indian Nationalism

(Liberal nationalism)

Social democracy

Democratic socialism

Gandhian socialism

Progressivism

Internal factions:

• Social liberalism

• Secularism

• Centrism

• Social conservatism

Political position Center-left

International affiliation Alliance of Democrats[2]

Progressive Alliance[3]

Colours Aqua

ECI Status National Party[4]

Alliance United Progressive Alliance (UPA)

Seats in Lok Sabha 206 / 545

Seats in Rajya Sabha 70 / 245

Election symbol

Website

www.aicc.org.in

Politics of India

Political parties

Elections

J

History of Congress

Pradesh Congress Committee

All India Congress Committee

Congress Working Committee

Congress President

Central Election Committee

Statewise Election history of Congress Party

The Indian National Congress (abbreviated INC, and commonly known as the Congress) is one of

the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It is the

largest and one of the oldest democratically-operating political parties in the world.[5][6][7]

The

party's modern liberal platform is largely considered centre-left wing in the Indian political spectrum as

contrasted to the right-wing socio-religious ultra-nationalist-based Bharatiya Janata Party. Founded in

1885 by members of the occultist movement Theosophical Society—Allan Octavian Hume, Dadabhai

Naoroji, Dinshaw Wacha, Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee, Surendranath Banerjee, Monomohun

Ghose, Mahadev Govind Ranade[8]

and William Wedderburn—the Indian National Congress became a

pivotal participant in the Indian Independence Movement, with over 15 million members and over 70

million participants in its struggle against British colonial rule in India.[9]

After independence in 1947, it

became the nation's dominant political party, led by the Nehru-Gandhi family for the most part; major

challenges for party leadership have only recently formed.[9]

In the 2009 general elections, the Congress emerged as the single largest party in the Lok Sabha, with

206 of its candidates getting elected to the 543-member house. Consequently it, as a member of a

coalition of political organisations called the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), was able to gain a

majority and form the government.

Contents

[hide]

1 History

o 1.1 The pre-independence era

o 1.2 The post-independence era

1.2.1 Jawaharlal Nehru

o 1.3 K. Kamaraj

o 1.4 Indira Gandhi

o 1.5 The post-Indira era

2 Ideology and policies

o 2.1 Social policy

o 2.2 Economic policy

o 2.3 Foreign policy

3 Organisational Structure

4 Congress in Pradesh (States)

5 Congress in various states

o 5.1 List of current Congress/UPA Chief Ministers

6 Prime Ministers of the Republic from the Congress Party

7 Controversies and criticisms

o 7.1 1947: Anti-Godse riots

o 7.2 1975-1977: State of Emergency

o 7.3 1984: anti-Sikh riots

o 7.4 Bofors scandal

o 7.5 Charges of bidding for seats

o 7.6 Allegations of softness towards religious extremism and terrorism

o 7.7 2G spectrum scam

o 7.8 Bribes to Members of Parliament

o 7.9 Other charges of corruption

8 See also

9 References

10 Further reading

11 External links

History

Main article: History of the Indian National Congress

The history of the Indian National Congress falls into two distinct eras:

The pre-independence era, when the party was at the forefront of

the struggle for independence and was instrumental in the whole

of India;

The post-independence era, when the party has enjoyed a

prominent place in Indian politics, ruling the country for 48 of the

60 years since independence in 1947.

In the pre-independence era, the Congress was ideologically divided into two groups, moderate and

activist. The moderates were more educated and wanted to win people's faith to lead the nation to

independence without fighting; the activists, on the other hand, favoured more revolutionary tactics and

sought to make the INC a paramilitary group.[citation needed]

The pre-independence era

A.O. Hume one of the founders of the Indian National Congress

First session of Indian National Congress, Bombay, 28–31 December 1885.

The Congress was founded by Indian and British members of the Theosophical Society movement,

most notably A.O. Hume.[9]

It has been suggested that the idea was originally conceived in a private

meeting of seventeen men after a Theosophical Convention held at Madras in December 1884. Hume

took the initiative, and it was in March 1885 that the first notice was issued convening the first Indian

National Union to meet at Poona the following December.[10]

Founded in 1885 claiming that it had the objective of obtaining a greater share in government for

educated Indians was created to form a platform for civic and political dialogue of educated Indians

with the British Raj. The Congress met once a year during December. Indeed, it was a Scotsman,

Allan Octavian Hume, who brought about its first meeting in Bombay, with the approval of Lord

Dufferin, the then-Viceroy. Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee was the first President of the INC. The first

meeting was scheduled to be held in Pune, but due to a plague outbreak there, the meeting was later

shifted to Bombay. The first session of the INC was held from 28–31 December 1885, and was

attended by 72 delegates.

Within a few years, the demands of the INC became more radical in the face of constant opposition

from the government, and the party decided to advocate in favour of the independence movement, as

it would allow for a new political system in which they could be a majorly dominant party. By 1907 the

party was split into two halves—the Garam Dal (literally "hot faction") of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, or

Extremists, and the Naram Dal (literally "soft faction") of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, or Moderates—

distinguished by their attitude towards the British colonists. Under the influence of Tilak, the Congress

became the first organised independence group in the country, bringing together millions of people

against the British.[9]

In the pre-independence era, the INC featured a number of prominent political figures: Dadabhai

Naoroji, a member of the sister Indian National Association, elected president of the Congress in 1886,

and between 1892 and 1895 the first Indian Member of Parliament in the British House of

Commons; Bal Gangadhar Tilak; Bipin Chandra Pal; Lala Lajpat Rai; Gopal Krishna Gokhale;

and Mohammed Ali Jinnah, later leader of theMuslim League and instrumental in the creation

of Pakistan. The Congress was transformed into a mass movement by Surendranath Banerjeaand

Sir Henry Cotton during the partition of Bengal in 1905 and the resultant Swadeshi

movement. Mohandas Gandhi returned from South Africa in 1915 and with the help of the moderate

group led by Ghokhale became president of the Congress and formed an alliance with the Khilafat

movement. In protest a number of leaders—Chittaranjan Das, Annie Besant, Motilal Nehru—resigned

from the Congress to set up the Swaraj Party. The Khilafat movement collapsed and the Congress

was split.

Mahatma Gandhi, President of Congress party during 1924

With the rise of Mahatma Gandhi's popularity and his Satyagraha art of revolution came Sardar

Vallabhbhai Patel, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (the nation's first Prime Minister), Dr. Rajendra

Prasad (the nation's first President), Khan Mohammad Abbas Khan, Khan Abdul Ghaffar

Khan,Chakravarti Rajgopalachari, Dr. Anugraha Narayan Sinha, Jayaprakash Narayan, Jivatram

Kripalani and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. With the already existing nationalistic feeling combined with

Gandhi's popularity, the Congress became a forceful and dominant group of people in the country,

bringing together millions of people by specifically working against caste differences, untouchability,

poverty, and religious and ethnic boundaries. Although predominantly Hindu, it had members from just

about every religion, ethnic group, economic class and linguistic group. In 1939, Subhas Chandra

Bose, the elected president in both 1938 and 1939 was expelled from the Congress for his socialist

views and the Congress was reduced to a pro-business group financed by the business houses of

Birla and Bajaj. At the time of the Quit India movement, the Congress was undoubtedly the strongest

revolutionary group in India, but the Congress disassociated itself from the Quit India movement within

a few days. The Indian National Congress could not claim to be the sole representative of the Indian

people as other parties were there as well notably the Hindu Mahasabha, Azad Hind Sarkar,

and Forward Bloc.

The 1929 Lahore session under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru holds special significance as in

this session "Poorna Swaraj" (complete independence) was declared as the goal of the INC. 26

January 1930 was declared as "Poorna Swaraj Diwas", Independence Day, although the British would

remain in India for 17 more years. To commemorate this date the Constitution of India was formally

adopted on 26 January 1950, even though it had been passed on 26 November 1949. However, in

1929, Srinivas Iyenger was expelled from the Congress for demanding full independence, not

just home rule as demanded by Gandhi.

After the First World War the party became associated with Mohandas K. Gandhi, who remained its

unofficial, spiritual leader and mass icon even as younger men and women became party president.

The party was in many ways an umbrella organization, sheltering within itself radical socialists,

traditionalists and even Hindu and Muslim conservatives, but all the socialist groupings (including the

Congress Socialist Party, Krishak Praja Party, and Swarajya Party members) were expelled by Gandhi

along with Subhas Chandra Bose in 1939. Members of the Congress initially supported the sailors who

led the Royal Indian Navy Mutiny. However they withdrew support at the critical juncture, when the

mutiny failed. During the INA trials of 1946, the Congress helped to form the INA Defence Committee,

which forcefully defended the case of the soldiers of the Azad Hind government. The committee

declared the formation of the Congress' defence team for the INA and included famous lawyers of the

time, including Bhulabhai Desai, Asaf Ali, and Jawaharlal Nehru.

The post-independence era

The party remained in power for thirty continuous years between independence in 1947 and its first

taste of electoral defeat (at the national level) in 1977.

Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Congress Prime Minister of India(1947–1964).

Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel are said to have held the view that the INC was formed only for

achieving independence and should have been disbanded in 1947.[11]

However, at the time of

independence, the INC (led by Jawaharlal Nehru) was dominant in the Indian political environment and

was established as the main political party. The Congress thus, considering the perceived need for a

stable leadership and guiding vision after the confusion and problems during and following the Partition

of India and independence, was re-established as an electoral party in independent India. Across

several general elections, the party ruled uninterruptedly until 1977, and has remained a major political

force.[citation needed]

After the Gandhi's assassination in 1948, and the death of Sardar Patel in 1950, Jawaharlal Nehru was

the sole remaining iconic national leader, and soon the situation became such that Nehru was key to

the political potency and future of the Congress. Nehru embraced secularism, socialistic economic

practices and a non-aligned foreign policy, which became the hallmark of the modern Congress Party.

Nehru's policies targeted the more well-off, claiming to have thus improved the position of religious

minorities and lower-caste Hindus. A generation of freedom fighting leaders was soon replaced by a

generation of people who had grown up in the shadow of Nehru. Nehru led the Congress to

consecutive majorities in the elections of 1952, 1957 and 1962.

After Nehru's death in 1964, the party's future first came into question. No other leader had Nehru's

popular appeal, so the second-stage leadership mustered around the compromise candidate, the

gentle, soft-spoken and Nehruvian Lal Bahadur Shastri. Shastri remained Prime Minister till his own

death in 1966, and a broad Congress party election opted for Indira Gandhi, Nehru's daughter, over

the right-wing, conservative Morarji Desai.

K. Kamaraj

Toward the end of Nehru's life, K. Kamaraj was became the president of the All India Congress

Committee and proposed the Kamaraj Plan. According to the plan six Congress chief ministers and six

senior Cabinet ministers resigned to take up party work. After Nehru's death, Kamaraj was

instrumental in bringing Lal Bahadur Shastri to power in 1964. He was part of a group of leaders in the

Congress called "the syndicate". After Shastri's death, the syndicate favoured Nehru's daughter Indira

Gandhi over Morarji Desai and she became the prime minister of India in 1967. For his role in the two

successions, Kamaraj was widely credited as the "kingmaker" in Indian politics. Kamaraj stepped down

as AICC president in 1967.

Indira Gandhi

Indira Gandhi, thrice Prime Minister of India.

The first serious challenge to Congress hegemony came in 1967 when a new coalition, under the

banner of the Samyukt Vidhayak Dal, won control over several states in the Hindi belt. Indira

Gandhi(not related to Mahatma Gandhi), the daughter of Nehru, and Congress president, was then

challenged by the majority of the party leadership. The conflict led to a split, and Indira launched a

separate INC. Initially this party was known as Congress (R), but it soon came to be generally known

as the "New Congress". The official party became the Indian National Congress

(Organisation) (INC(O)) led by Kamaraj. It was informally called the "Old Congress". As Indira Gandhi

had control over the national state machinery, her faction was seen as the official INC by the Election

Commission of India, although her party was a break-away group.

The split can in some ways be seen as a left-wing/right-wing division. Indira Gandhi wanted to use a

populist agenda in order to gather popular support for the party. She raised slogans such as Garibi

Hatao (Remove Poverty), and wanted to develop closer ties with the Soviet Union, for strategic

purposes.[12]

The regional party elites, who formed the INC(O), stood for a more conservative agenda,

and distrusted Soviet help. INC(O) later merged into the Janata Party.

Gradually, Indira Gandhi grew more authoritarian and autocratic in her policies and outlook. Following

allegations of electoral malpractice in the general elections, a court overturned Gandhi's victory in her

parliamentary constituency in thr 1971 General Elections. Facing growing criticism and widespread

demonstrations by opposition in the country, she proclaimed a state of National Emergency in 1975,

imprisoned most of her party's opposition, and unleashed a police state.

After she lifted the emergency in 1977, more Congress factions were formed, the one remaining loyal

to Indira Gandhi being popularly known as Congress(I) with an 'I' for Indira. Congress(I) was routed in

the general elections by the Janata Party, but the resulting coalition government lasted only two years.

The Congress party returned to power in the ensuing 1980 elections. In 1984 Indira Gandhi was

assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards, in revenge for the disastrous Operation Blue Star. In the

following days anti-Sikh riots broke out in Delhi and elsewhere in which more than six thousand Sikhs

were killed, purportedly by activists and leaders of the Congress Party.[13]

The post-Indira era

Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson of the United Progressive Allianceand President of Indian National Congress

Following the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984, the Indian National Congress party leaders

nominated Rajiv Gandhi to be the next Prime Minister. He took office by storm, winning major election

victory, and leading the Congress party by winning 411 seats out of 542, in the Indian Parliament. He

helped improve the economic, foreign and security policies of the country, during his tenure.[citation needed]

Afterward, former treasurer Sitaram Kesri took over the reins of the party and oversaw the Congress

support to the United Front governments that ran from 1996 to 1998. During his tenure, several key

leaders broke away from the party, and serious infighting broke out among those left. In 1998, Sonia

Gandhi finally accepted the post of Congress President, in a move that may have saved the party from

extinction.

After her election as party leader, a section of the party, which objected to the choice, broke away and

formed the Nationalist Congress Party. The use of "Congress (I)" continues to denote the party run by

Indira Gandhi's successors. Sonia Gandhi's autocratic era in power has been criticised by some,

including the ultra-nationalist right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian People's Party) and the ultra-

left wing Communist Party of India (Marxist) as well as other, mostly affiliated, groups on the basis that

she is a foreigner of Italian ethnicity.

Although the Congress expedited the downfall of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government

in 1999 by promising an alternative, Ms. Gandhi's decision was followed by fresh elections and the

Congress party's worst-ever tally in the lower house. The party spent the interval period forging

alliances and overseeing changes in the state and central institutions to revive the party. It has had

many electoral successes which led up to the formation of a Congress-led government in 2004. In the

next general election in 2009 which made Manmohan Singh the Prime Minister once again, and

Congress was the first party to get 206 seats during a coalition era of politics.

Ideology and policies

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please

help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.

Unsourced material may bechallenged and removed. (January 2013)

Historically, the party has supported and advocated in favour of farmers, laborers, worker's

unions (Labour unions), and religious and ethnic minorities; it has also advocated in favour of the

regulation of business and finance, and has looked favourably upon the levying of income taxes.

However, in recent years the party has turned towards centrist economic and social

democratic policies. Today, the INC advocates neo-liberal policies including populism, social

liberalism, secularism and free enterprise with government regulations such as public–private

partnership (PPP) model. As a political party, the INC has publicised its intentions to do all it can to

reduce poverty, illiteracy and strongly supports the weaker section of the society.[citation needed]

Social policy

Social policy of the INC is officially based upon the Gandhian principle of Sarvodaya (upliftment of all

sections of the society.) In particular INC emphasises upon policies to improve the lives of the

economically underprivillaged and socially disprivilleged sections of society. This includes publicising

employment generation efforts for the rural population (through schemes such as National Rural

Employment Generation Scheme) etc. The party supports the somewhat controversial concept of

family planning with birth control but hasn't overtly supported elective abortion (i.e. Gender-Selective

abortion)[citation needed]

, which would be controversial and dangerous as certain groups (e.g.Feminists)

could consider that to be sexist or insensitive and the INC wouldn't have been able to survive under

such pressure. The INC supports the highly controversial 'Reservation' system (i.e. reserving jobs and

other things for underprivileged factions of society) which could lead to an inexperienced poorer

person getting a job instead of an experienced wealthier person, though it could also be vice versa.

Economic policy

Initially and for a long time, the economic policy of the INC was centred around the public sector and

aimed at establishing a "socialistic pattern of society". However, after the recent adoption

of Economically Liberal policies started byManmohan Singh the then Finance Minister[citation needed]

in the

early 1990s, the economic policy of INC has been changed somewhat and it is now adopted free

market policies, though at the same time it is in favour of taking a cautious approach when it comes to

liberalising the economy claiming it is to help ensure that the weaker sectors aren't affected to hard by

the changes that come with liberalisation.[citation needed]

Foreign policy

See also: Foreign relations of India

Traditionally, nonalignment has been the bedrock of the foreign policy of the INC.[citation needed]

Organisational Structure

The organisational structure created by Mohandas Gandhi's re-arrangement of the Congress in the

years of 1918 to 1920 has largely been retained till today.

In every Indian state and union territory or pradesh, there is a Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC),

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. Each PCC has a Working

Committee of 10–15 key members, and the state president is the leader of the state unit. The

Congressmen elected as members of the states legislative assemblies form the Congress Legislature

Parties in the various state assemblies, and their chairperson is usually the party's nominee for Chief

Ministership.

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is formed of delegates sent from the PCCs around the

country. The delegates elect various Congress committees, including the Congress Working

Committee, which consists of senior party leaders and office bearers, and takes all important executive

and political decisions.

The President of the Indian National Congress is in effect the party's national leader, head of the

organization, head of the Working Committee and all chief Congress committees, chief spokesman

and the Congress choice to become the Prime Minister of India.

Constitutionally, the president is to be elected by the vote of the PCCs and members of the AICC.

However, this procedure has often been by-passed by the Working Committee, choosing to elect its

own candidate as a result of conditional circumstances.

The Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) is the group of elected MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya

Sabha. It is headed by senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee. Since the current Prime Minister

Dr.Manmohan Singh is not an elected member of the Lok Sabha, Pranab is the CPP president. Dr.

Singh is Leader of the Rajya Sabha. There is also a CLP leader in each state. The CLP (Congress

Legislative Party) consists of all Congress Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in each state.

It also comes under the CPP so Pranab is head of the MLAs also. In cases of states where the

Congress is single-handedly ruling the government, the CLP leader is the Chief Minister.

Congress in Pradesh (States)

Main article: Pradesh Congress Committee

Andaman and Nicobar PCC

Andhra Pradesh PCC

Arunachal Pradesh PCC

Assam PCC

Bihar PCC

Chhatisgarh PCC

Dadra and Nagar Haveli PCC

Daman and Diu PCC

Delhi PCC

Goa PCC

Gujarat PCC

Haryana PCC

Himachal Pradesh PCC

Jammu & Kashmir PCC

Jharkhand PCC

Karnataka PCC

Kerala PCC

Lakshadweep PCC

Madhya Pradesh PCC

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee

Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee

Meghalaya PCC

Mizoram PCC

Nagaland PCC

Orissa PCC

Pondicherry PCC

Punjab PCC

Rajasthan PCC

Sikkim PCC

Tamil Nadu PCC

Tripura PCC

Uttarakhand PCC

Uttar Pradesh PCC

West Bengal PCC

Congress in various states

Congress Ruled States in Green

Congress is currently in power in nine states (Andhra

Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal

Pradesh, Karnataka, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Rajastha

n) and one union territory (Delhi) where the party enjoys a majority

of its own.

In five other states — Assam, Jammu and

Kashmir, Kerala, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand — it shares power

with other alliance partners.

In Tamil Nadu, it lost power in the 1967 assembly election and has

not been able to recapture it since.

In the remaining states and in the union territory of Puducherry,

various opposition parties are in power.

List of current Congress/UPA Chief Ministers

All Chief Ministers from the Congress are mentioned first and are marked as bold-

N. Kiran Kumar Reddy - Andhra Pradesh

Nabam Tuki - Arunachal Pradesh

Tarun Gogoi - Assam

Sheila Dikshit - Delhi

Bhupinder Singh Hooda - Haryana

Virbhadra Singh - Himachal Pradesh

Siddaramaiah - Karnataka

Oommen Chandy - Kerala

Prithviraj Chavan - Maharashtra

Okram Singh - Manipur

Mukul Sangma - Meghalaya

Pu Lalthanhawla - Mizoram

Ashok Gehlot - Rajasthan

Vijay Bahuguna - Uttarakhand

Omar Abdullah - Jammu and Kashmir

Prime Ministers of the Republic from the Congress Party

Jawaharlal Nehru (1947–1964)

Gulzarilal Nanda (May–June 1964 and in January 1966)

Lal Bahadur Shastri (1964–1966)

Indira Gandhi (1966–1977, 1980–1984)

Rajiv Gandhi (1984–1989)

P.V. Narasimha Rao (1991–1996)

Manmohan Singh (2004–)

Controversies and criticisms

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be

found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until

the dispute is resolved. (June 2012)

This article's factual accuracy is disputed. Please help to ensure that

disputed statements are reliably sourced. See the relevant discussion on

the talk page. (June 2012)

1947: Anti-Godse riots

After the knowledge that the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, Nathuram Godse, was a

Maharashtrian Brahmin, some workers of the Congress Party went on a rampage, against the

supporters of Savarkar and Nathuram Godse, burning their houses and putting thousands in jail.[14]

1975-1977: State of Emergency

Main article: Indian Emergency (1975-1977)

On 12 June 1975 the High Court of Allahabad declared Indira Gandhi's election to the Lok Sabha void

on grounds of electoral malpractice. But Gandhi rejected calls to resign and announced plans to

appeal to the Supreme Court.

Gandhi had already been accused of authoritarianism. By using her strong parliamentary majority, her

ruling Congress Party had amended the Constitution and altered the balance of power between the

Centre and the States in favour of the Central Government. She had twice imposed "President's Rule"

under Article 356 of the Constitution by declaring states ruled by opposition parties as "lawless and

chaotic", and thus seizing control. In response to her new tendency for authoritarian use of power,

public figures and former freedom-fighters like Jaya Prakash Narayan, Satyendra Narayan Sinha and

Acharya Jivatram Kripalani toured India, speaking actively against her and her government.

Gandhi moved to restore order by ordering the arrest of most of the opposition participating in the

unrest. Her Cabinet and government then recommended that President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declare

a state of emergency, because of the disorder and lawlessness following the Allahabad High Court

decision. Accordingly, Ahmed declared a State of Emergency caused by internal disorder, based on

the provisions of Article 352 of the Constitution, on 26 June 1975. It is one of the most controversial

periods in the history of independent India.[15]

1984: anti-Sikh riots

Main article: 1984 anti-Sikh riots

After the assassination of Indira Gandhi by two of her Sikh Body Guards following Operation Blue Star,

many Congress workers including Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar and Kamal Nath were accused of

inciting and participating in Sikh riots.

There are allegations that the government destroyed evidence and shielded the guilty. The Asian

Age front-page story called the government actions "the Mother of all Cover-ups"[16][17]

There are

allegations that the violence was led and often perpetrated by Indian National Congress activists and

sympathizers during the riots.[13]

The government, then led by the Congress, was widely criticized for

doing very little at the time, possibly acting as a conspirator. Theconspiracy theory is supported by the

fact that voting lists were used to identify Sikh families.

Bofors scandal

Main article: Bofors scandal

The Bofors scandal was a major corruption scandal in India in the 1980s. Late Prime Minister Rajiv

Gandhi, who was simultaneously serving as the president of Congress (I), and his associates the late

Win Chadha and Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi were accused of receiving kickbacks to

help Bofors win a bid in 1986 to sell 155 mm field howitzers to the Indian Army. The scale of this

corruption was far worse than any that India had seen before, and directly led to the defeat of Gandhi's

ruling Congress party in the November 1989 general elections. It has been speculated that the scale of

the scandal was to the tune of 400 million.[18]

The case came to light during Vishwanath Pratap Singh's tenure as defence minister, and was

revealed through investigative journalism by Chitra Subramaniam and N. Ram of the newspapers

the Indian Express and The Hindu.[19]

In January 2011, an Income tax tribunal ruled that Rs. 41.2 crore was paid as kickbacks to the late Win

Chadha and Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi in the Swedish howitzer deal and the two are

liable to tax in India on such income.[20]

Charges of bidding for seats

In November 2008, senior Congress leader, Margaret Alva, made a charge that Congress seats for the

elections were up for bidding as opposed to a meritocratic appointment to run. The party responded to

the charge by denying such a claim, as well as dropping her as general secretary of the party,

the Congress Working Committee and the party's Central Election Committee. She was also stripped

of her charge of the Congress party in Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana and Mizoram. Congress

spokesperson, Shakeel Ahmad, added that "Congress president Mrs Sonia Gandhi has taken the

decision on the report submitted by Mr AK Antony, chairperson of the Disciplinary Action

Committee."[21]

This followed an outburst by the son of the congress chairperson, Rahul Gandhi, that

"Democracy in political parties is non-existent in India. You cannot enter unless you are well

connected." In response the recent allegations he said, "I had made some recommendations to include

some younger boys. I am not unhappy with the distribution of tickets."[22]

Allegations of softness towards religious extremism and terrorism

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please do not remove this

message until the dispute is resolved. (January 2013)

Rivalling parties such as those from the NDA coalition (i.e. the BJP) have often claimed that the

Congress party and other UPA coalition members might be too soft on Islamic

extremist and fundamentalist ideologies and actions such asIslamic terrorism and Islamism by

scrapping the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (POTA) immediately after it won the elections in

2004. Senior BJP leaders such as Nitin Gadkari and Narendra Modi have accused Congress Party of

being soft on Indian terrorist groups such as Indian Mujahideen for the sake of vote bank politics.[23][24]

Congress and its allies are insulted by political rivals for not retaliating against Islamic terrorists

in Kashmir and focusing on the issues of the Indian Muslim community solely to gain Muslim

votes. Kashmiri Pandits have been in exile since January 1990 following the outbreak of terrorism in

Kashmir.[25]

2G spectrum scam

Main article: 2G spectrum scam

The scam was bought into limelight in 2010 when case filed against Minister for Communications and

Information Technology A. Raja had been reported. 2G licenses were issued to private telecom

players at throwaway prices in 2008. The CAG estimated on the basis of 3G auction that the 2G

Spectrum scam had cost the government Rs. 1.76 lakh crore. Rules and procedures were flouted

while issuing licenses.[26]

The CBI in the Supreme Court has since indicated that the factual loss is

around Rs 30 000 crore.[27]

The 2G spectrum scam came in a year that was full of scams for the Congress (UPA) government.

The government meanwhile also faced the accusation of using the CBI for covering up scandals, in

wake of which, the BJP chief Nitin Gadkari termed the CBI as "Congress Bureau of Investigation".[28]

Bribes to Members of Parliament

As per United States secret diplomatic cable number 162458 dated 17 July 2008, Congress Party

insider Satish Sharma's political aide Nachiketa Kapur told a US diplomat on 16 July 2008 that the

party paid INR 100 million (about $2.5 million) each to four Members of Parliament[29]

in order to help

the party narrowly survive a no-confidence motion.[30]

Another Congress Party insider told the US

Political Counsel in New Delhi that Congress Party cabinet minister Kamal Nath was also helping bribe

Members of Parliament in order to help secure the votes.[29]

Other charges of corruption

Since the party has dominated the political landscape of India for over a century, there are many

charges of corruption and authoritarianism against it, with people questioning India's Democracy. In

the wake of the 2G Spectrum scam, the 2010 Commonwealth Games Scam and the Adarsh Housing

Society Mumbai, a survey by an Indian magazine Outlook and a television news channel CNN-IBN in

2011 said that the Congress was seen as the most corrupt political party in India.[31]

See also

Politics portal

Congress Working Committee

All India Congress Committee

Pradesh Congress Committee

Statewise Election history of Congress Party

Jinnah's People's Memorial Hall

Nehru - Feroze Gandhi family

List of political parties in India

Politics of India

President of the Indian National Congress

References

1. ^ 164.100.47.132/LssNew/Members/partywiselist.aspx

2. ^ Political Parties, International Organizations and Individuals

joining the Alliance of Democrats, Alliance of Democrats

3. ^ Expected Participants, Progressive Alliance

4. ^ "List of Political Parties and Election Symbols main Notification

Dated 18.01.2013" (in English). India: Election Commission of

India. 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.

5. ^ Rastogi, P.N. (1975). The nature and dynamics of factional

conflict. Macmillan Co. of India. Unknown

parameter |p.= ignored (help)

6. ^ "Parliamentary Debates". Council of States Secretariat. 1976.

Retrieved November 26, 2012. Unknown

parameter |Issue= ignored (|issue= suggested)

(help); Unknown parameter |Vol.= ignored (help);Unknown

parameter |p.= ignored (help)

7. ^ Gavit, Manikrao Hodlya; Chand, Attar (1989). Indian National

Congress: A Select Bibliography. U.D.H. Publishing House.

p. 451.

8. ^ Mahadev Govind Ranade

9. ^ a b c d Bevir, Mark (February 9, 2013). "Theosophy and the

Origins of the Indian National Congress". University of California,

Berkeley. Retrieved 2003-01-01.

10. ^ Sitaramayya, B. Pattabhi. 1935. The History of the Indian

National Congress. Working Committee of the

Congress. Scanned version

11. ^ Jesudasan, Ignatius. A Gandhian theology of liberation. Gujarat

Sahitya Prakash: Ananda India, 1987, pp 225.

12. ^ Vohra, Pankaj (November 1, 2009). "The Original Aam Admi

Leader".Hindustan Times. Retrieved November 23, 2012.

13. ^ a b "Leaders 'incited' anti-Sikh riots". BBC News. August 8,

2005. Retrieved November 23, 2012.

14. ^ Datta, Saikat (November 17, 2008). "Godse's War". Outlook

India.

15. ^ "India in 1975: Democracy in Eclipse", ND Palmer – Asian

Survey, vol 16 no 5. Opening lines.

16. ^ Mustafa, Seema (2005-08-09). "1984 Sikhs Massacres: Mother

of All Cover-ups". Front page story (The Asian Age). p. 1.

17. ^ Agal, Renu (2005-08-11). "Justice delayed, justice denied".

BBC News.

18. ^ "Key Players in Bofors Scandal". India Today (New Delhi). April

28, 2009. Retrieved November 26, 2012.

19. ^ Singhvi, Vir (September 23, 1999). "Bofors' Ghosts". Rediff on

the NeT. Retrieved November 26, 2012.

20. ^ "I-T Tribunal nails Chadha, Quattrocchi". The Hindu (Chennai,

India). 4 January 2011.

21. ^ [1][dead link]

22. ^ [2][dead link]

23. ^ Sharma, Ashwani (May 10, 2010). "Gadkari says Cong soft on

terror for votebank politics". The Indian Express. Retrieved

November 23, 2012.

24. ^ Economic Times (14 September 2008). "Modi says Cong soft

on terror". The Times Of India.

25. ^ ndtv. "21 years of exile for Kashmiri Pandits".

26. ^ 2G Spectrum Scam

27. ^ The truth in the 2G scam is slowly emerging

28. ^ CBI-Congress Bureau of Investigation

29. ^ a b "162458: Cash-for-votes ahead of confidence motion". The

Hindu(Chennai, India). 17 March 2011.

30. ^ Ridge, Mian (July 23, 2008). "Indian Government Survives No-

Confidence Vote". The Christian Science Monitor (New Delhi,

India). Retrieved November 26, 2012.

31. ^ "It's a Bit too Transparent". Outlook. January 31, 2011.

Retrieved November 23, 2012.

Further reading

The Indian National Congress: An Historical Sketch, by Frederick

Marion De Mello. Published by H. Milford, Oxford university press,

1934.

The Indian National Congress, by Hemendra Nath Das Gupta.

Published by J. K. Das Gupta, 1946.

Indian National Congress: A Descriptive Bibliography of India's

Struggle for Freedom, by Jagdish Saran Sharma. Published by S.

Chand, 1959.

Social Factors in the Birth and Growth of the Indian National Congress

Movement, by Ramparkash Dua. Published by S. Chand, 1967.

Split in a Predominant Party: The Indian National Congress in 1969,

by Mahendra Prasad Singh. Abhinav Publications, 1981. ISBN 81-

7017-140-7.

Concise History of the Indian National Congress, 1885–1947, by B. N.

Pande, Nisith Ranjan Ray, Ravinder Kumar, Manmath Nath Das.

Published by Vikas Pub. House, 1985. ISBN 0-7069-3020-7.

The Indian National Congress: An Analytical Biography, by Om P.

Gautam. Published by B.R. Pub. Corp., 1985.

A Century of Indian National Congress, 1885–1985, by Pran Nath

Chopra, Ram Gopal, Moti Lal Bhargava. Published by Agam

Prakashan, 1986.

The Congress Ideology and Programme, 1920–1985, by Pitambar

Datt Kaushik . Published by Gitanjali Pub. House, 1986. ISBN 81-

85060-16-9.

Struggling and Ruling: The Indian National Congress, 1885–1985, by

Jim Masselos. Published by Sterling Publishers, 1987.

The Encyclopedia of Indian National Congress, by A. Moin Zaidi,

Shaheda Gufran Zaidi, Indian Institute of Applied Political Research.

Published by S.Chand, 1987.

Indian National Congress: A Reconstruction, by Iqbal Singh, Nehru

Memorial Museum and Library. Published by Riverdale Company,

1988. ISBN 0-913215-32-5.

INC, the Glorious Tradition, by A. Moin Zaidi, Indian National

Congress. AICC. Published by Indian Institute of Applied Political

Research, 1989.

Indian National Congress: A Select Bibliography, by Manikrao Hodlya

Gavit, Attar Chand. Published by U.D.H. Pub. House, 1989. ISBN 81-

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. ISBN 81-85355-46-0. (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.ISBN 81-7835-090-

4.

Bipan Chandra, Amales Tripathi, Barun De. Freedom Struggle. India:

National Book Struggle. ISBN 81-237-0249-X.

External links

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