Katana VentraIP

History of the Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress was established when 72 representatives from all over the country met at Bombay in 1885. Prominent delegates included Dadabhai Naoroji, Surendranath Banerjee, Badruddin Tyabji, Pherozeshah Mehta, W. C. Banerjee, S. Ramaswami Mudaliar,[1] S. Subramania Iyer, and Romesh Chunder Dutt. The Englishman Allan Octavian Hume, a former British civil servant, was one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress.

Resetting economic policies to reiterate the advantages of an open market economy

Supporting wealth creation

Reducing inequality between the rich, the middle classes, and the poor

Accelerating growth driven by the private and viable public sector enterprises

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 , Karnataka, Gujarat – states that did not yet exist and were spread over hundreds of princely states outside British India.

Maharashtra

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 renamed by Gandhi as Hindustani, which was adopted for use by the All India Congress Committee.

Urdu

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

1947–1952: transformation[edit]

Constitution[edit]

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.[18]


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 a Hindu 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.

Indian nationalism

Indian independence movement

Satyagraha

Gandhism

Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance

Mahendra Prasad Singh (1981). . Abhinav Publications. ISBN 978-81-7017-140-9.

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

Patel: A Life

Rajmohan Gandhi

My Autobiography, or The Story of My Experiments with Truth,

M.K. Gandhi

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel,

Narhari Parikh