Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress (INC) is a pan‑Indian political party that has shaped the subcontinent’s modern history from its inception as a forum for educated elites in 1885 to its present role as the principal opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Its longevity—over 135 years—makes it the world’s oldest surviving mass political party, and its capacity to mobilise diverse social groups under a common nationalist banner set it apart from contemporaneous regional movements. The Congress’s imprint on India’s constitutional framework, economic policy, and secular ethos endures despite fluctuating electoral fortunes.

Origins and Early Evolution

The INC was founded on 28 December 1885 at a gathering convened by retired British civil servant A.O. Hume in Bombay’s Alfred Theatre, with 72 delegates representing 13 provinces. Early presidents such as Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee and Dadabhai Naoroji articulated a constitutional approach, demanding greater Indian representation in the Imperial Legislative Council, which then comprised 104 members, of whom only 34 were Indian. The 1894 formation of the Indian National Congress Committee of the United Provinces marked the first systematic expansion beyond the presidency‑centric model, while the 1907 Surat session introduced the “Extremist” faction led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Pal, who pressed for self‑rule (Swaraj) through mass agitation.

Freedom Struggle and Mass Mobilisation

The Congress’s transformation from elite club to mass movement accelerated after the 1905 Partition of Bengal, when the party endorsed the Swadeshi boycott of British goods, a campaign that saw the import of indigenous textiles rise by 30 % within a year. Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India in 1915 injected a new strategy of non‑violent civil disobedience; the 1920 Non‑Cooperation Movement attracted an estimated 4 million participants, prompting the British to arrest over 100,000 activists, including Gandhi himself. The 1930 Salt March, a 240‑mile trek from Sabarmati to Dandi, galvanized nationwide protests that resulted in the arrest of 80 % of the Congress’s senior leadership and the filing of 1,500 cases under the Indian Penal Code. The 1942 Quit India Resolution, passed on 8 August, called for immediate British withdrawal; within weeks, the colonial administration detained 100,000 Congress members, yet underground networks continued to coordinate strikes across 12 provinces.

Post‑Independence Dominance and Institutional Shifts

Following independence on 15 August 1947, the INC formed the first government under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, occupying 364 of the 489 seats in the Constituent Assembly that drafted the 1950 Constitution. The party’s “socialist‑democratic” platform guided the implementation of land‑reform acts in 1955 that redistributed 22 million acres to tenant farmers, and the establishment of the Planning Commission in 1950 to steer five‑year plans that lifted per‑capita income from US $150 in 1950 to US $1,500 by 1990. Internal fissures emerged in 1969 when the party split into Congress (R) led by Indira Gandhi and Congress (O) headed by K. Kamaraj, a division that was cemented by the 1975 Emergency, during which civil liberties were suspended for 21 months and 1.2 million political prisoners were detained. The 1977 general election saw the INC lose power for the first time, securing only 153 of 542 Lok Sabha seats, but a 1980 resurgence under Indira restored a majority of 351 seats, a pattern of dominance that persisted until the 1991 economic liberalisation under Prime Minister P.V. Narendra Rao, which opened the economy to foreign investment and raised GDP growth from 3.5 % (1989) to 5.8 % (1992).

Contemporary Role and Challenges

In the 21st century, the Congress has struggled to retain its mass base, falling to 44 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha out of 543, a decline from its 2014 high of 44 % vote share to a 2024 share of 19 %. The party’s current president, Mallikarjun Kharge, elected on 26 October 2022, has pledged internal democratic reforms, including the introduction of a digital primary system that recorded 2.3 million votes in the 2023 internal elections. Youth engagement is pursued through the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), which reported a membership of 1.1 million in 2023, while the Mahila Congress, with 2.5 million members, focuses on gender‑inclusive policies such as the 2022 Women’s Empowerment Bill that earmarks 33 % of party tickets for female candidates. Despite these initiatives, the INC faces criticism for factionalism, exemplified by the 2023 resignation of senior leader Sharad Pawar, and for an aging leadership cadre, with the average age of its Lok Sabha MPs at 58 years, compared to the national average of 53. Nonetheless, the party’s historical legacy—its role in drafting the Constitution, championing secularism, and steering early industrialisation—continues to inform debates on India’s democratic trajectory and remains a reference point for scholars examining the evolution of mass political parties worldwide.