Indian National Congress

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Indian National Congress
Party chairperson	Sonia Gandhi
Parliamentary Party Chairperson	Sonia Gandhi
Leader in Lok Sabha	Pranab Mukherjee
Leader in Rajya Sabha	Manmohan Singh Prime Minister
Founded	1885
Alliance	United Progressive Alliance
Seats in Lok Sabha	206
Seats in Rajya Sabha	72
Political ideology	Populism Social liberalism Democratic Socialism Social Democracy
Publications	Congress Sandesh
Website	Indian National Congress Official Website
See also the politics of India series

The Indian National Congress (also known as the Congress Party and abbreviated INC) is a major political party in India. Founded in 1885 by Allan Octavian Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji, Dinshaw Wacha, Womesh Chandra Bonerjee, Surendranath Banerjee, Monomohun Ghose, and William Wedderburn, the Indian National Congress became the leader of the Indian Independence Movement, with over 15 million members and over 70 million participants in its struggle against British rule in India. After independence in 1947, it became the nation's dominant political party led by the Nehru-Gandhi Family for most of the part, challenged for leadership only in more recent decades. In the 14th Lok Sabha (2004-2009), 145 members (out of 545), the largest contingent amongst all parties, serve in the house. The party is currently the chief member of the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition. It is the only party to get more than 100 million votes in the past three general elections (1999, 2004,2009).

[edit] History

The history of the Indian National Congress falls into two distinct eras:

• The pre-independence era, when the party was at the forefront of the struggle for independence;
• The post-independence era, when the party has enjoyed a prominent place in Indian politics, ruling the country for 48 of the 60 years since independence in 1947.

In the pre-independence era, the congress was divided in two groups, moderate and activist. The moderates were more educated and wanted to win people's faith to rule over the country and enjoy the power which the British were enjoying and eventually they achieved what they were looking for.

[edit] The Pre-Independence Era

First session of Indian National Congress, Bombay, 28-31, December, 1885.

Founded in 1885 with the objective of obtaining a greater share in government for educated Indians, the Indian National Congress was initially not opposed to British rule. The Congress met once a year during December. Indeed, it was a Scotsman, Allan Octavian Hume, who brought about its first meeting in Bombay, with the approval of Lord Dufferin, the then-Viceroy.

Womesh Chandra Bannerjee was the first President of the INC. The first meeting was scheduled to be held in Pune, but due to a plague outbreak there, the meeting was later shifted to Bombay. The first Session of INC was held from 28-31 December 1885, and was attended by 72 delegates.

A few years down the line, the demands of INC became more radical in the face of constant opposition from the government, and the party became very active in the independence movement. By 1907 the party was split into two halves: the Garam Dal of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, or Extremists (literally "hot faction"), and the Naram Dal of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, or Moderates (literally "soft faction"), distinguished by their attitude towards the British. Under the influence of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the Congress became the first integrated mass organization in the country, bringing together millions of people against the British. The Indian National Congress was the only political party to provide harmony to all the sects of the Indian society^{[citation needed]}

The official flag of the Congress during the Independence struggle.

In its time as the nation's leader in the freedom struggle, it produced the nation's greatest leaders. Before the Gandhi Era came leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Mohammed Ali Jinnah (later leader of the Muslim League and instrumental in the creation of Pakistan), all starting with the first legendary icon of Indians: Dadabhai Naoroji, the president of the sister Indian National Association and later the first Indian Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons. The Congress was transformed into a mass movement by Surendranath Banerjea and Sir Henry Cotton during the partition of Bengal in 1905 and the resultant Swadesi Movement. Gandhi came back from South Africa in 1915 and with the help of the pro-British group led by Ghokhale became the President of The Congress and formed an alliance with the Khilafat Movement. In protest a number of leaders went out of Congress. Khilafat movement ended up in a disaster and The Congress was split. A number of leaders Chittaranjan Das, Annie Besant, Motilal Nehru, went out of The Congress to set up the Swaraj Party.

With the rise of Mahatma Gandhi's popularity and his Satyagraha art of revolution came Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (the nation's first Prime Minister), Dr. Rajendra Prasad (the nation's first President), Khan Mohammad Abbas Khan, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Chakravarti Rajgopalachari, Jivatram Kripalani and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. With the already existing nationalistic feeling combined with Gandhi's popularity the Congress became a forceful mass organization in the country, bringing together millions of people by specifically working against caste differences, untouchability, poverty, and religious and ethnic boundaries. Although predominantly Hindu, it had members from virtually every religion, ethnic group, economic class and linguistic group. In 1939, Subhas Chandra Bose, the elected president in both 1938 and 1939 was expelled from the Congress for his socialist views and The Congress was reduced to a pro-Business group financed by the business houses of Birla and Bajaj. At the time of the Quit India movement, the Congress was undoubtedly the strongest political and revolutionary organization in India, but the Congress disassociated itself from the Quit India movement within a few days. The Indian National Congress could not claim to be the true representative of the Indian people as other parties were there as well particularly the Hindu Mahasabha, Azad Hind Sarkar, Forward Bloc.

The 1929 Lahore session under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru holds special significance as in this session "Poorna Swaraj" (complete independence) was declared as the goal of INC. The 26th January 1930 was declared as "Poorna Swaraj Diwas," Independence Day although the British remained in India a number of years longer. It was to commemorate this date particularly that The Indian Constitution was formally adopted on 26 January 1950 (even though it was passed on 26 November 1949).However in 1929 Srinivas Iyenger was expelled from the Congress for demanding full independence, not just home rule as demanded by Gandhi.

After the First World War the party became associated with Mahatma Gandhi, who remained its unofficial, spiritual leader and mass icon even as younger men and women became party president. The party was in many ways an umbrella organization, sheltering within itself radical socialists, traditionalists and even Hindu and Muslim conservatives, but all the socialists (including the Congress Socialist Party, Krishak Praja Party, Swarajya Party members) were expelled along with Subhas Chandra Bose in 1939 by Gandhi.

During the INA trials of 1946, the Congress helped to form the INA Defence Committee, which forcefully defended the case of the soldiers of the Azad Hind government. The committee declared the formation of the Congress' defence team for the INA and included famous lawyers of the time, including Bhulabhai Desai, Asaf Ali, and Jawaharlal Nehru.

Members of the Congress initially supported the sailors who led the Royal Indian Navy Mutiny. However they withdrew support at the critical juncture, when the mutiny failed.

[edit] The Post-Independence Era

The party remained in power for thirty continuous years between independence in 1947 and its first taste of electoral defeat (at the national level) in 1977.

Performance of Congress in Indian General elections (total seats in Lok Sabha = 545)

[edit] Jawaharlal Nehru

Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel are said to have held the view that the INC was formed only for achieving independence and should have been disbanded in 1947.^[1] However, at the time of independence, the INC (led by Jawaharlal Nehru) was a major political organization in the country, and was established as the major political party. The Congress thus, considering the perceived need for a stable leadership and guiding vision after the terrible chaos and confusion following the Partition of India and Independence, was re-established as an electoral party in independent India. Across several general elections, the party ruled uninterrupted until 1977, and has remained a major political force.

After the murder of Gandhi in 1948, and the death of Sardar Patel in 1950, Jawaharlal Nehru was the sole remaining iconic national leader, and soon the situation became so that Nehru was key to the political potency and future of the Congress. Nehru embraced secularism, socialist economic policies and a non-aligned foreign policy, which became the hallmark of the modern Congress Party. Nehru's policies challenged the landed class, the business class and improved the position of religious minorities and lower caste Hindus. A generation of freedom fighting leaders were soon replaced by a generation of people who had grown up in the shadow of Nehru. Nehru led the Congress Party to consecutively majorities in the elections of 1952, 1957 and 1962.

After Nehru's death in 1964, the party's future first came into question. No leader was competitive enough to touch Nehru's iconic status, so the second-stage leadership mustered around the compromise candidate, the gentle, soft-spoken and Nehruvian Lal Bahadur Shastri. Shastri remained Prime Minister till his own death in 1966, and a broad Congress Party election opted for Indira Gandhi, Nehru's daughter, over the right-wing, conservative Morarji Desai.

[edit] Indira Gandhi

Congress mural in Kolkata

The first serious challenge to Congress hegemony came in 1967 when a united opposition, under the banner of Samyukt Vidhayak Dal, won control over several states in the Hindi belt. Indira Gandhi, the daughter of Nehru, and Congress president, was then challenged by the majority of the party leadership. The conflict led to a split, and Indira launched a separate INC. Initially this party was known as Congress (R), but it soon came to be generally known as the New Congress. The official party became known as Indian National Congress (Organisation) led by Kamaraj. It was informally called the Old Congress. As Indira Priyadarshini had control over the state machinery, her faction was recognized as the "real" INC by the Election Commission of India, although her organization was the break-away group.

The split can in some ways be seen as a left-wing/right-wing division. Indira Gandhi wanted to use a populist agenda in order to mobilise popular support for the party. She raised slogans such as Garibi Hatao (Remove Poverty), and wanted to develop closer ties with the Soviet Union. The regional party elites, who formed the INC(O), stood for a more conservative agenda, and distrusted Soviet help. INC(O) later merged into the Janata Party.

Gradually, Indira Gandhi grew more and more authoritarian. Following allegations of widespread rigging in the general elections, a court overturned Indira Gandhi's victory in the Parliamentary constituency. Facing growing opposition she proclaimed a state of National Emergency in 1975, curtailed the powers of the courts, and unleashed a police state.

After she lifted the emergency in 1977, more Congress factions were formed, the one remaining loyal to Indira Gandhi being popularly known as Congress(I) with an 'I' for Indira. The Congress (I) was routed in the general elections by the Janata Party, but the coalition government fell apart in two years. The Congress party returned to power in the ensuing 1980 elections. In 1984 Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards, in revenge for Operation Blue Star. In the following days more than six thousand Sikhs were killed in the 1984 riots, mainly in Delhi, by activists and leaders of the Congress Party. On the other hand three thousand to eight thousand Hindus were slaughtered in the Punjab from 1984 to 1991 by militants seeking a separate homeland. [1].

About the riots, the new PM and Indira's son, Rajiv Gandhi remarked, "When a big tree falls, the earth is bound to shake."

[edit] The Post-Indira Era

Election symbol of the Congress

After Indira, her son Rajiv Gandhi, took over as Congress leader and led the party to victory with a large majority in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections. It governed from 1984-9 and then was defeated in the 1989 general election. Rajiv Gandhi was also assassinated by the LTTE during the course of the election campaign in 1991. Following Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, P.V. Narasimha Rao succeeded him as Congress leader and became prime minister.

The 1990s was a period of prolonged crisis for the Congress. After gradually losing political influence the party asked the Rajiv Gandhi's widow, Sonia, to accept the position of Congress President. She refused at the time, and the Congress stuck with Narasimha Rao. Rao dramatically changed the party's traditionally socialist policies and introduced major economic reforms and liberalization, with the help of then Finance minister (and future Prime Minister) Manmohan Singh. Nonetheless, his involvement in the bribery of members of parliament(first found guilty in 2000 and on appeal was cleared of charges in 2002) was a major issue which led to the downfall of the Congress in 1996, and subsequently his fall out with other leaders in his own party and eventual exit from politics[?]. For all its follies, this Congress government was significant because it provided a stable central government that brought the economy back on track.

Former treasurer Sitaram Kesri took over the reins of the party and oversaw the Congress support to the United Front governments that ran from 1996 - 1998. During his tenure, several key leaders broke away from the party, and serious infighting broke out among those left. In 1998, Sonia Gandhi finally accepted the post of Congress President, in a move that may have saved the party from extinction.

A Congress activist wears face painted in party colours during an election campaign

After her election as party leader, a section of the party, which objected to the choice, broke away and formed the Nationalist Congress Party. The use of "Congress (I)" continues to denote the party run by Indira Gandhi's successors. There have been repeated attempts by the Indian nationalist groups (such as the BJP) to discredit Sonia Gandhi's leadership on the basis of her foreign origin - she is Italian-born.

Although the Congress expedited the downfall of the NDA government in 1999 by promising an alternative, Ms. Gandhi's decision was followed by fresh elections and the Congress party's worst-ever tally in the lower house. The party spent the interval period forging alliances and overseeing changes in the state and central organizations to revive the party. It has had many electoral successes which led up to the formation of a Congress-led government in 2004.In the next general election in 2009 which made Manmohan Singh the Prime Minister once again , and Congress was the first party to get 206 seats during a coaltion era of politics.

[edit] Indian Prime Ministers from the Congress Party

• Jawaharlal Nehru (1947 - 1964)
• Gulzarilal Nanda (May - June 1964 and in January 1966)
• Lal Bahadur Shastri (1964 - 1966)
• Indira Gandhi (1966 - 1977, 1980 - 1984)
• Rajiv Gandhi (1984 - 1989)
• P.V. Narasimha Rao (1991 - 1996)
• Manmohan Singh (2004 - Present)

[edit] Controversies and criticisms

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh shakes hands with former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney after delivering a speech to the Joint session of the United States Congress as former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert looks on.

Since the party has dominated the political landscape of India for over a century, there are many charges of corruption and similar charges against it. Some examples are:

[edit] 1947 - Anti- Maharashtrian Brahmin Riots

After the knowledge that the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, Nathuram Godse, was a Maharashtrian Brahmin, some workers of the Congress Party went on a rampage , killing hundreds of Maharashtrian Brahmins, burning their houses and putting thousands in jail.

[edit] 1975-1977 - State of Emergency

On 12 June 1975 the High Court of Allahabad declared Indira Gandhi's election to the Lok Sabha void on grounds of electoral malpractice. But Mrs Gandhi rejected calls to resign and announced plans to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Indira had already been accused of authoritarianism. By using her strong parliamentary majority, her ruling Congress Party had amended the Constitution and altered the balance of power between the Centre and the States in favour of the Central Government. She had twice imposed "President's Rule" under Article 356 of the Constitution by declaring states ruled by opposition parties as "lawless and chaotic", and thus seizing control. In response to her new tendency for authoritarian use of power, public figures and former freedom-fighters like Jaya Prakash Narayan, Satyendra Narayan Sinha and Acharya Jivatram Kripalani toured India, speaking actively against her and her government.

Gandhi moved to restore order by ordering the arrest of most of the opposition participating in the unrest. Her Cabinet and government then recommended that President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declare a state of emergency, because of the disorder and lawlessness following the Allahabad High Court decision. Accordingly, Ahmed declared a State of Emergency caused by internal disorder, based on the provisions of Article 352 of the Constitution, on 26 June 1975. It is one of the most controversial periods in the history of independent India.^[2]

[edit] 1984 Anti-Sikh massacre

After the assassination of Indira Gandhi by 2 of her Sikh Body Guards following Operation Bluestar, many Congress workers under Rajiv Gandhi (prominently including Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar) were accused of inciting and participating in anti-Sikh riots. Six thousand Sikhs were killed in the 1984 riots, mainly in Delhi, by activists and leaders of the Congress Party.

[edit] Rajiv Gandhi's remarks and later apology

Then Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi, son of Indira Gandhi, made a statement at Boat Club in New Delhi on 19 November 1984, on the birthday of Indira Gandhi, "Some riots took place in the country following the murder of Indiraji. We know the people were very angry and for a few days it seemed that India had been shaken. But, when a mighty tree falls, it is only natural that the earth around it does shake a little.".^[3][4][5] The remarks were deemed as insensitive by many. Rajiv Gandhi's widow, Sonia Gandhi and current President of the Congress Party, officially apologized in 1998 for the events of November 1984. The apology was considered inadequate by some of those concerned.

[edit] Allegations of conspiracy and cover-ups

There are allegations that the government destroyed evidence and shielded the guilty. The Asian Age front page story called the government actions "the Mother of all Cover-ups"^[6][7] There are allegations that the violence was led and often perpetrated by Indian National Congress activists and sympathizers during the riots. The government, then led by the Congress, was widely criticized for doing very little at the time, possibly acting as a conspirator. The conspiracy theory is supported by the fact that voting lists were used to identify Sikh families.

[edit] Volcker report

The Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) appointed by the United Nations in its final report released on October 27, 2005 confirms that documents state: 'Beneficiary: India: Congress Party' with an entitlement of 4 million barrels of crude' and 'Beneficiary: India: Singh Mr K. Natwar' with an entitlement of 4 million barrels'.

[edit] Promotion of Islamic conservatism

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has repeatedly accused the Congress of showing unnatural favouritism to the Indian Muslim community and the toleration, or even promotion of Islamic conservatism and obscurantism. It has been also accused of deliberately fragmenting Hindus while consolidating conservative Muslim votes (by allowing them a separate personal code, etc) Congress policy is also accused of causing fifty years of economic stagnation, following Independence, and of excessive veneration of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

[edit] Charges for bidding for seats

In November 2008, senior Congress leader, Margaret Alva, made a charge that congress seats for the elections were up for bidding as opposed to a meritocratic appointment to run. The party responded to the charge by denying such a claim, as well as dropping her as general secretary of the party, the Congress Working Committee and the party's Central Election Committee. She was also stripped of her charge of the congress party in Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana and Mizoram. Congress spokesperson, Shakeel Ahmad, added that "Congress president Mrs Sonia Gandhi has taken the decision on the report submitted by Mr AK Antony, chairperson of the Disciplinary Action Committee."^[8] This followed an outburst by the son of the congress chairperson, Rahul Gandhi, that "Democracy in political parties is non-existent in India. You cannot enter unless you are well connected." In response the recent allegations he said, "I had made some recommendations to include some younger boys. I am not unhappy with the distribution of tickets."^[9]

[edit] Formation of present Government of India

A Congress rally in New Delhi.

In the 2004 general elections, the Congress alliance won the largest number of seats and got an assurance of support from the Left Front upsetting the Atal Behari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance, which was variously forecast to win outright victory or at least emerge as the largest alliance. Shortly thereafter, Sonia Gandhi was nominated by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance to be the next Prime Minister. But in what was described as the dropping of a political bombshell, Sonia Gandhi refused to take the position based on her "inner voice". She backed eminent economist, former Union Finance Minister and senior Congress leader Dr. Manmohan Singh for the post of Prime Minister, and he was sworn-in as Prime Minister on 22 May 2004.

[edit] Policies and Programmes

[edit] Social Policy

Social policy of the INC is based on Gandhian concept of Sarvodaya (upliftment of all sections of the society.) In particular INC gives special emphasis on the welfare of the economically and socially disadvantaged sections of the society. This includes "affirmative action" reservations for weaker sections of the society in education and employment, emphasis on employment generation for rural population (through schemes such as National Rural Employment Generation Scheme) etc.

[edit] Economic Policy

Traditionally, Economic policy of the INC emphasised on the importance of the public sector aimed at establishing a "sociallistic pattern of society." However since the economic liberalizations initiated by Dr. Manmohan Singh, the then Finance Minister in the early ninetees of the last century, the economic policy of INC has been changed somewhat and it is now committed to liberalization and market economy though at the same time it is in favour of taking a cautious approach in proceeding with liberalization to ensure that the weaker sections are not effected too hard by the liberalization process.

[edit] Foreign Policy

Traditionally, nonalignment has been the bedrock of the Foreign Policy of the INC.

[edit] Internal organization

The organization developed by Mahatma Gandhi's reorganization of the Congress in the years of 1918 to 1920 has largely been retained till today.

In every Indian state and union territory or pradesh, there is a Pradesh Congress Committee, which is the provincial unit of the party, responsible for directing political campaigns at local and state levels and assisting the campaigns for Parliamentary constituencies. Each PCC has a Working Committee of 10-15 key members, and the state president is the leader of the state unit. The Congressmen elected as members of the states legislative assemblies form the Congress Legislature Parties in the various state assemblies, and their chairperson is usually the party's nominee for Chief Ministership.

The All India Congress Committee is formed of delegates sent from the PCCs around the country. The delegates elect various Congress committees, including the Congress Working Committee, which consists of senior party leaders and office bearers, and takes all important executive and political decisions.

The President of the Indian National Congress is in effect the party's national leader, head of the organization, head of the Working Committee and all chief Congress committees, chief spokesman and the Congress choice to become the Prime Minister of India.

Constitutionally, the president is to be elected by the vote of the PCCs and members of the AICC. However, this procedure has often been by-passed by the Working Committee, choosing to elect its own candidate as an emergency measure.

The Congress Parliamentary Party is the group of elected MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.It is headed by senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee. Since the current Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh is not an elected member of the Lok Sabha, Pranab is the CPP president. Dr.Singh is Leader of the Rajya Sabha. There is also a CLP leader in each state. The CLP(Congress Legislative Party) consists of all MLAs in each state. It also comes under the CPP so Pranab is head of the MLAs also.In cases of states where the Congress is single handedly ruling the government,the CLP leader is the Chief Minister.

[edit] Congress in various states

Congress ruled states marked in green

Congress is currently in power in seven states (Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana,Mizoram and Manipur) where the party enjoys a majority of its own. In four other states — Assam, Goa, Maharashtra and Pondicherry — it has shared the spoils of power with other alliance partners. In the remaining states and union territories, with the exception of Tamil Nadu, various opposition parties or blocks are in power. In Tamil Nadu, the party provides outside support to the ruling DMK.

[edit] List of Current Congress Chief Ministers

Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy - Andhra Pradesh

Dorjee Khandu - Arunachal Pradesh

Tarun Gogoi - Assam

Sheila Dikshit - Delhi

Digambar Kamat - Goa

Bhupinder Singh Hooda - Haryana

Ashok Chavan - Maharashtra

Okram Ibobi Singh - Manipur

Pu Lalthanhawla - Mizoram

Vaithilingam - Pondicherry

Ashok Gehlot - Rajasthan

[edit] List of presidents of the party

[edit] 2009 General Elections

The Indian National Congress led coalition United Progressive Alliance(UPA), headed by Ms. Sonia Gandhi, gets closest to the majority vote in the general elections of 2009 and sets to form the government under the leadership of Dr. Manmohan Singh.

[edit] Congress Party in the states

[edit] See also

• Statewise Election history of Congress Party
• Jinnah's People's Memorial Hall
• Nehru-Gandhi Family
• List of political parties in India
• Politics of India

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• The Indian National Congress: An Historical Sketch, by Frederick Marion De Mello. Published by H. Milford, Oxford university press, 1934.
• The Indian National Congress, by Hemendra Nath Das Gupta. Published by J. K. Das Gupta, 1946.
• Indian National Congress: A Descriptive Bibliography of India's Struggle for Freedom, by Jagdish Saran Sharma. Published by S. Chand, 1959.
• Social Factors in the Birth and Growth of the Indian National Congress Movement, by Ramparkash Dua. Published by S. Chand, 1967.
• Split in a Predominant Party: The Indian National Congress in 1969, by Mahendra Prasad Singh. Abhinav Publications, 1981. ISBN 8170171407.
• Concise History of the Indian National Congress, 1885-1947, by B. N. Pande, Nisith Ranjan Ray, Ravinder Kumar, Manmath Nath Das. Published by Vikas Pub. House, 1985. ISBN 0706930207.
• The Indian National Congress: An Analytical Biography, by Om P. Gautam. Published by B.R. Pub. Corp., 1985.
• A Century of Indian National Congress, 1885-1985, by Pran Nath Chopra, Ram Gopal, Moti Lal Bhargava. Published by Agam Prakashan, 1986.
• The Congress Ideology and Programme, 1920-1985, by Pitambar Datt Kaushik . Published by Gitanjali Pub. House, 1986. ISBN 8185060169.
• Struggling and Ruling: The Indian National Congress, 1885-1985, by Jim Masselos. Published by Sterling Publishers, 1987.
• The Encyclopaedia of Indian National Congress, by A. Moin Zaidi, Shaheda Gufran Zaidi, Indian Institute of Applied Political Research. Published by S.Chand, 1987.
• Indian National Congress: A Reconstruction, by Iqbal Singh, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. Published by Riverdale Company, 1988. ISBN 0913215325.
• INC, the Glorious Tradition, by A. Moin Zaidi, Indian National Congress. AICC. Published by Indian Institute of Applied Political Research, 1989.
• Indian National Congress: A Select Bibliography, by Manikrao Hodlya Gavit, Attar Chand. Published by U.D.H. Pub. House, 1989. ISBN 8185044058.
• The Story of Congress Pilgrimage: 1885-1985, by A. Moin Zaidi, Indian National Congress. Published by Indian Institute of Applied Political Research, 1990. ISBN 8185355460. (7 vols)
• Indian National Congress in England, by Harish P. Kaushik. Published by Friends Publications, 1991.
• Women in Indian National Congress, 1921-1931, by Rajan Mahan. Published by Rawat Publications, 1999.
• History of Indian National Congress, 1885-2002, by Deep Chand Bandhu. Published by Kalpaz Publications, 2003. ISBN 8178350904.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Indian National Congress

• Official Indian National Congress website
• Indian National Congress Discussion Group
• Congress Archives
• Congress Media
• Congress Sandesh

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