Details and outcomes of some of the important Indian National Congress sessions (INC

Sessions) are discussed below:

1885 – In the first session, the objectives of the Indian National Congress (INC) were outlined.
1886 – In the second session, INC decided to establish Provincial Congress Committees across
India. Further, in this session, the National Congress was merged with the National Conference.
1887 – In this session, Syed Badruddin Tyabji was elected as the first Muslim President of INC
and INC appealed to the Muslims to join hands with other national leaders in the freedom
struggle.
1888 – George Yule became the first English President of INC.
1892 – In the 8th session of the Indian National Congress, the Indian Councils Act of 1892
introduced by the British government was criticized by the Congress on the ground that the
Indians were denied the right to elect their own representatives.
1896 – In the 12th session, Congress passed a resolution against the British, blaming them for the
famine which then devastated many parts of the country. The National Song was sung for the
first time in the Congress session
1897 – In the Amravati session, Congress slammed Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s arrest on charges of
sedition.
1899 – In the 15th Indian National Congress session, permanent fixation of the land revenue was
demanded. In addition, Congress also demanded the British government in India stop the drain of
wealth from India to England.
1904 – In the Bombay session, Congress protested against Lord Curzon as he violated the rules
by using the Indian revenue for his forward policy in Tibet and also against his proposal to
divide Bengal.
1906 – The term ‘Swaraj’ was mentioned for the first time in the 22nd Indian National Congress
session that took place in Calcutta.
1907 – In the Surat session, the Congress was split into two – the moderates led by Surendranath
Banerjea and Gopal Krishna Gokhale and the extremists led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat
Rai, and Bipin Chandra Pal.
1908 – The Constitution of Congress was made in the 23rd session of INC.
1909 – In the Lahore session, Congress opposed the provision of the Indian Councils Act of
1909 which proposed the formation of separate electorates on the basis of religion.
1911 – The National anthem “Jana Gana Mana’ was recited for the first time in the Calcutta
session of the Indian National Congress.
1915 – In the Bombay session, suitable alterations were made to the constitution of Congress in
order to admit extremists back into Congress.
1916 – The moderates and extremists were united and extremists were readmitted into the INC in
the Lucknow session. Also, Congress signed the Lucknow Pact with the Muslim League.
1917 – Annie Besant became the first woman president of the Indian National Congress at the
Calcutta session.
1918 – At the special session held in Bombay, Congress commented that the Montague-
Chelmsford reforms are disappointing and demanded a Declaration of Rights for the people of
India.
1919 – In the 34th session of the Indian National Congress, the Congress condemned the
Jallianwala Bagh massacre and expressed its deep solidarity with the people killed in it.
1920 – In the Nagpur session, Congress decided to intensify the Non-Cooperation Movement
and it urged the Indian merchants to boycott foreign trades.
1921 – In this session, Harsat Mohani demanded complete independence.
1922 – The Swaraj Party was formed by C.R.Das at the Gaya session of the Congress.
1924 – The Indian National Congress session held at Belgaum was the only session attended by
M.K. Gandhi.
1925 – At the Kanpur session, Sarojini Naidu became the first Indian women President of INC.
1927 – In this session, Congress decided to boycott the Simon Commission and adopted
complete national independence as the goal of INC.
1928 – The first All India Youth Congress came into existence in the 43rd session.
1929 – At this session, Congress passed a resolution for Poorna Swaraj and the Congress
Working Committee was authorized to launch the Civil Disobedience Movement.
1931 – Congress passed a resolution on Fundamental Rights and National Economic Programme
and also endorsed the Gandhi-Irwin pact at the Karachi session of INC.
1934 – In the 48th session, the Congress Socialist Party was formed.
1936 – Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru urged the Indian National Congress to adopt socialism as its goal.
1937 – For the first time, the Congress session was held in a rural area at Faizpur in Jalgaon.
1938 – National Planning Committee was established under the chairmanship of Pt. Jawaharlal
Nehru and Haripura resolution demanding Poorna Swaraj was passed.
1940 – In the Ramgarh session, Congress protested against the declaration of India as a
belligerent country without any reference to the people and also declared that nothing short of
complete independence will be accepted.