What were some main reasons of the formation of the Congress in 1885?
Answers
Answer:
Retired British Indian Civil Service (ICS) officer Allan Octavian Hume founded the Indian National Congress (A political party of India (British India to Free India)) in order to form a platform for civil and political dialogue among educated Indians.
Explanation:
Explanation:
1. In December 1884, Allan Octavian Hume presided over a private meeting with 17 men after a Theosophical convention in Madras. The idea of forming the Indian National Congress was conceived in this meeting.
2. At the time of foundation, the party's objective was to obtain a greater participation for educated Indians in the government and to create a forum where political dialogues among educated Indians and the British Raj could be arranged.
3. The first meeting of the Congress was scheduled to take place at Poona (now Pune). However, due to a cholera outbreak, the event was shifted to Bombay (now Mumbai). Hume had to get the approval of the then Viceroy Lord Duffrin to hold the meeting.
4. Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee also known as Umesh Chandra Banerjee was elected as the first president of the first meeting of the Congress that included 72 other delegates.
5. Until 1905, Congress did not have much public support. After Lord Curzon's declaration of the Partition of Bengal, senior Congress leaders Surendranath Banerjee and Sir Henry Cotton broke the political barriers and made the party instrumental in the Swadeshi movement.
6. After the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa in 1914, the Congress elected him as the president in 1921. By the end of the First World War in 1919, Gandhi became the spiritual leader and icon of the party.
7. The Congress party played a pivotal role in the Indian freedom movement. With over 15 million members and 70 million participants, the party eventually ousted the imperial colonisers from India.
8. Even after the Independence, the Congress party has ruled over Indian politics. In the 15 general elections since independence, the Congress has won on six occasions and has led the ruling coalition another four times.
9. The Congress party is the oldest ruling party of free India. The party has led the central government for 49 years.
10. Seven Indian Prime Ministers have been elected from the party and six others had been former members. Jawaharlal Nehru, Gulzarilal Nanda, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, P V Narsimha Rao and Manmohan Singh were active members of the party during their prime ministerial tenure. On the other hand, Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, V P Singh, Chandra Sekhar, H D Deve Gowda, I K Gujral had been members of the Congress before their appointment.
11. Sonia Gandhi is the longest-serving president of the party till date. She joined the party as a primary member at the 1997 plenary session and was elected president in 1998.
12. Rahul Gandhi is the current president of INC.