Indian National Congress Sessions and Significance

Indian National Congress Sessions

YearLocationPresidentImportance
1885BombayW C BonnerjeeWas held on 28 to 30 December 1885 at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College.

1st session attended by 72 delegates
1886CalcuttaDadabhai NaorojiNational Congress and National Conference
1887MadrasSyed Badruddin TyabjiAppeal made to Muslims to join hands with other national leaders
1888AllahabadGeorge YuleFirst English president
1889BombaySir William Wedderburn
1890CalcuttaFeroz Shah Mehta
1891NagpurP. Ananda Charlu
1892AllahabadW C Bonnerjee
1893LahoreDadabhai Naoroji
1894MadrasAlfred Webb
1895PoonaSurendranath Banerjee
1896CalcuttaRahimtullah M. SayaniNational song ‘Vande Mataram’ sung for the first time
1897AmravatiC. Sankaran Nair
1898MadrasAnanda Mohan Bose
1899LucknowRomesh Chandra DuttDemand for permanent fixation of Land revenue
1900LahoreN G Chandavarkar
1901CalcuttaDinshaw E. Wacha
1902AhmedabadSurendranath Banerjee
1903MadrasLal Mohan Ghosh
1904BombaySir Henry Cotton
1905BenaresGopal Krishna GokhaleExpressed resentment against the partition of Bengal
1906CalcuttaDadabhai NaorojiThe word ‘Swaraj’ was mentioned for the first time  

Four resolutions were Adopted: Swaraj (Self Government), Boycott Movement, Swadeshi & National Education
1907SuratRash Behari GhoshSplit on INC into extremists and moderates
1908MadrasRash Behari Ghosh
1909LahoreMadan Mohan Malaviya
1910AllahabadSir William Wedderburn
1911CalcuttaBishan Narayan Dhar‘Jana Gana Mana’ sung for the first time
1912Bankipore (Patna)Raghunath Narasinha Mudholkar
1913KarachiSyed Mohammed
1914MadrasBhupendra Nath Basu
1915BombaySatyendra Prasanna Sinha
1916LucknowAmbica Charan MazumdarLucknow Pact between two Moderates and Extremists of Congress

joint session with the Muslim League
1917CalcuttaAnnie BesantFirst woman president of the INC
1918Bombay And DelhiSyed Hasan Imam (Bombay) And Madan Mohan Malaviya (Delhi)Two sessions were held. First in Bombay in August/September Second in Delhi in December
1919AmritsarMotilal NehruJallianwala Bagh massacre strongly condemned

Congress extended support to Khilafat Movement
1920 (Special Session):Calcutta.Lala Lajpat RaiMahatma Gandhi moved the Non cooperation resolution
1920NagpurC VijayaraghavachariarReconstitution of Working committees of Congress on Linguistic basis  

MA Jinnah left the Indian National Congress
1921AhmedabadHakim Ajmal Khan (acting President For C R Das)
1922GayaC R DasCR Das and other leaders broke away from INC

Formation of Swaraj Party
1923KakinadaMaulana Mohammad Ali,
1924BelgaumM K GandhiOnly Session presided over by Mahatma Gandhi
1925KanpurSarojini NaiduFirst Indian woman president
1926GuwahatiS Srinivasa Iyengar
1927MadrasM A AnsariPassed a resolution against boycott of Simon Commission
1928CalcuttaMotilal NehruAll India Youth Congress formed
1929LahoreJawaharlal NehruPassed the resolution on ‘Poorna Swaraj.’

’ Civil Disobedience movement for complete independence to be launched,

26 January to be observed as ‘Independence Day’.
1930No Session
1931KarachiVallabhbhai PatelResolution on fundamental rights and national economic progress.

Gandhi-Irwin pact endorsed.

Gandhi nominated to represent INC in the second round table conference to be held in London
1932DelhiAmrit Ranchhorddas Seth
1933CalcuttaMalaviya Was Elected But Mrs Nellie Sengupta Presided
1934BombayRajendra Prasad
1936FaizpurJawaharlal NehruFirst rural session/first session to be held in a village
1937LucknowJawaharlal Nehru
1938HaripuraSubhas Chandra BoseNational planning committee set up under Nehru
1939TripuriSubhas Chandra BoseBose was elected but had to resign since Gandhi supported Pattabhi Sitaramayya.

Rajendra Prasad was appointed

Subhash Chandra Bose formed Forward Bloc
1940RamgarhAbul Kalam Azad
1941-1945No session because of arrest
1946MeerutAcharya KripalaniLast session before independence
1948JaipurPattabhi SitaramayyaFirst session after independence