Indian National Congress
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| Indian National Congress | |
|---|---|
| Image:INC-flag.svg | |
| Party Chairperson | Sonia Gandhi |
| General Secretary | Rahul Gandhi |
| Parliamentary Party Chairperson | Sonia Gandhi |
| Leader of Lok Sabha | Pranab Mukherjee |
| Leader of Rajya Sabha | Manmohan Singh Prime Minister |
| Founded | 1885 |
| Headquarters | 24, Akbar Road, New Delhi - 110011 |
| Alliance | United Progressive Alliance |
| Seats in Lok Sabha | 145 |
| Seats in Rajya Sabha | 72 |
| Political Ideology | Liberalism Social Democracy Populism |
| Political Position | Fiscal: Populist Social: Center-left |
| Publications | Congress Sandesh |
| Website | www.congress.org.in |
Indian National Congress, Congress-I (also known as the Congress Party and abbreviated INC) is a major political party in India. Created in 1885 by A. O. Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji and Sir Dinshaw Edulji Wacha, the Indian National Congress became the nation's leader in the Independence Movement, with over 15 million Indians involved in its organizations and over 70 million participants in its struggle against the British Empire. After independence in 1947, it became the nation's dominant political party, only challenged for leadership in more recent decades. In the 14th Lok Sabha (2004-2009), 145 INC members, the largest contingent amongst all parties, serve in the house. The party is currently the chief member of the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition supported by the Left Front.
Contents |
[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.
[edit] The pre-independence era
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 Mumbai, with the approval of Lord Dufferin, the then-Viceroy.
Womesh Chandra Bonerjee 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 Mumbai. 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.
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).
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. The Congress under Gandhi's influence became the first integrated 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. At the time of the Quit India movement, the Congress was undoubtedly the strongest political and revolutionary organization in India. The Indian National Congress could claim to be the true representative of the Indian people.
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).
[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.
[edit] Jawaharlal Nehru
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 assassination 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 awesome 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 and later on Morarji Desai continued.
In 1955 in Awadi session the party adopted a socialistic pattern of society for India.
[edit] Indira Gandhi
The first serious challenge to Congress hegemony came in 1967 when a united opposition, under the banner of Samyukt Vidhanayak Dal, won control over several states in the Hindi belt. Indira Gandhi, the 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 Gandhi[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.
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. There were even allegations of widespread rigging in the general elections. The Allahabad High Court declared Indira Gandhi's election invalid, in a judgement on the 12th of June, 1975 by Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha, on the ground that she had used the services of government servants in her campaign. Granted a stay on the order by the Supreme Court on the 24th of June, she proclaimed a state of National emergency on 25th June, 1975, curtailed the powers of the courts, and unleashed a police state with herself as the "supreme" leader.
[edit] The post-Indira era
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 1984-89 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 Gandhi, to accept the position as Congress President. Refusing in 1991, 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 was a major issue which led to the downfall of the Congress in 1996, and subsequently his own disgraced exit from politics.
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.
After her election as party leader, a section of the party, which objected to the choice, broke away and formed the Nationalist Congress Party. 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.
[edit] Indian Prime Ministers from the Congress Party
- Jawaharlal Nehru (1947 - 1964)
- Gulzarilal Nanda (May - June1964, 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 -)
[edit] Political accusations
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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:
- 1984 Anti-Sikh riots|Anti-Sikh riots - After the assassination of Indira Gandhi by Sikh Body Guards following Operation Bluestar, many Congress workers prominently including Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar were accused of inciting and participating in anti-Sikh riots that killed thousands. About to the riots, the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had infamously remarked, "When a big tree falls, the earth is bound to tremble." Many years later, the Congress made their sikh Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
- Oil for Food program#Interim report results|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] Formation of present Government of India
In the Indian general elections, 2004|2004 general elections, the UPA|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 forecasted 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] Congress Party in the states
Currently, the Congress Party governs the following states with a simple majority:
- Haryana where Bhupinder Singh Hooda serves as the Chief Minister
- Andhra Pradesh under YSR Reddy
- Jammu and Kashmir under Ghulam Nabi Azad
- Goa under Digambar Kamat
- Maharashtra under Vilasrao Deshmukh
- Assam under Tarun Kumar Gogoi
- Manipur under Okram Ibobi Singh
- Meghalaya under Dr. D. D. Lapang
- Arunachal Pradesh under Dorjee Khandu
and the following Union Territories:
It lost polls in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in 2007. It has held power in Delhi for over nine years now. Congress also extends support to an Independent Chief Minister in the tribal dominated state of Jharkhand in the East.
da:Indiske Kongresparti
