LALA Lajpat raï COLLAGE OF COMMERCE AND ECONOMICS
Student Name: Manasi Tavasalkar
Roll No: 222301080
Class: F.Y B.M. S
Div: B
Topic: Congress Party
Submission Date: 29/09/22
Student Sign :
Summary
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but
often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread
roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to
emerge in the British Empire in Asia and Africa. From the late 19th
century, and especially after 1920, under the leadership of Mahatma
Gandhi, the Congress became the principal leader of the Indian
independence movement. The Congress led India to independence from
the United Kingdom, and significantly influenced other anti-colonial
nationalist movements in the British Empire. Due to its enduring history,
the Congress is often called the "grand old party".
Submitted to: Vaidehi Kamath
Congress party
Indian National Congress, Congress- (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
Edulj Wacha, the Indian National Congress became the nation's
leader
in the Independence Movement, with over 15 million Indians
involved
in its organization and over 70 million participants in its
struggle
against the British Empire.
During this phase, it functioned not so much as a political party
than
as a forum for Indians and their British supporters to express to
the
colonial authorities their views, opinions and to assert India's
right
After independence in 1947, it became the nation's dominant
political
party, in power from 1947 until 1977, then from 1980 to 1999,
1991 to
1996 and winning the 2004 general election.
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.
Famous members include Annie Besant, its first woman INC
President,
Mahatma Gandhi (President in 1924) and Sarojini Naidu, the
first
Indian woman President (1925) and the first woman State
Governor
History
The Indian National Congress conducted its first session in Bombay from
28 to 31 December 1885 at the initiative of retired Civil Service
officer Allan Octavian Hume. In 1883, Hume had outlined his idea for a
body representing Indian interests in an open letter to graduates of
the University of Calcutta. It aimed to obtain a greater share in
government for educated Indians and to create a platform for civic and
political dialogue between them and the British Raj. Hume took the
initiative, and in March 1885 a notice convening the first meeting of the
Indian National Union to be held in Puna the following December was
issued However due to a cholera outbreak there, it was moved to Bombay.
. Hume organized the first meeting in Bombay with the approval of
the Viceroy Lord Dufferin. Umesh Chandra Banerjee was the first president
of Congress; the first session was attended by 72 delegates, representing
each province of India. Notable representatives included Scottish ICS
officer William Wedderburn, Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta of the
Bombay Presidency Association, Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi of the Poona
Sarvajanik Sabha, social reformer and newspaper editor Gopal Ganesh
Agarkar, Justice K. T. Telang, N. G. Chandavarkar, Dinshaw
Wacha, Behramji Malabari, journalist, and activist Gooty Kesava Pillai,
and P. Rangaiah Naidu of the Madras Mahajana Sabha. This small elite
group, unrepresentative of the Indian masses at the time functioned more
as a stage for elite Indian ambitions than a political party for the first
decade of its existence.
First session of Indian National Congress, Bombay, 28–31 December 1885
Political Position
The Congress party emphasizes social equality, freedom, secularism,
and equal opportunity Its political position is generally considered to be in
the centreHistorically, the party has represented farmers, labourers,
and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Act (MGNREGAThe MGNREGA was initiated with the objective of
"enhancing livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100
days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year, to every
household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work."
Another aim of MGNREGA is to create durable assets (such as roads,
canals, ponds, and wells
The Congress has positioned itself as both pro-Hindu and protector of the
minorities. The party supports Mahatma Gandhi's doctrine of Sarva
Dharma Sama Bhava collectively termed by its party members as
secularism. Former — chief minister of Punjab and senior Congress
member Amarinder Singh said, "India belongs to all religions, which is its
strength, and the Congress would not allow anyone to destroy its
cherished secular values On 9 November 1989, Rajiv Gandhi had
allowed Shilanyas(foundation stone-laying ceremony) adjacent to the then
disputed Ram Janmabhoomi site Subsequently, his government faced
heavy criticism over the passing of The Muslim Women (Protection of
Rights on Divorce) Act 1986, which nullified the Supreme Court's
judgment in the Shah Bano case. The 1984 violence made the Congress
party lose a moral argument over secularism. The BJP questioned the
Congress party's moral authority in questioning it about the 2002 Gujarat
riots The Congress has distanced itself from Hindutva ideology, though the
party has softened its stance after defeat in the 2014 and 2019 general
elections. Under Narsimha Rao's premiership, the Panchayati
Raj and Municipal Government got constitutional status. With the
enactment of the 73rd and 74th amendments to the constitution, a new
chapter, Part- IX added to the constitution States have been given the
flexibility to take into consideration their geographical, politico-
administrative, and other consideration while adopting the Panchayati-raj
system. In both panchayats and municipal bodies, in an attempt to ensure
that there is inclusiveness in local self-government, reservations for SC/ST
and women were implemented.
Economic Policies
The history of the economic policy of Congress-led governments can be divided
into two periods. The first period lasted from independence, in 1947, to 1991 and
put great emphasis on the public sector. The second period began with economic
liberalisation in 1991. At present, Congress endorses a mixed economy in which
the private sector and the state both direct the economy, which has
characteristics of both market and planned economies. The Congress advocates
import substitution industrialisation—the replacement of imports with the
domestic product, and believes the Indian economy should be liberalised to
increase the pace of development.
At the beginning of the first period, the Congress prime minister Jawaharlal
Nehru implemented policies based on import substitution industrialisation and
advocated a mixed economy where the government-controlled public
sector would co-exist with the private sector. He believed that the establishment
of basic and heavy industry was fundamental to the development and
modernisation of the Indian economy. The government, therefore, directed
investment primarily into key public-sector industries—steel, iron, coal, and
power—promoting their development with subsidies and protectionist policies.
This period was called the Licence Raj, or Permit Raj which was the elaborate
system of licences, regulations, and accompanying red tape that were required
to set up and run businesses in India between 1947 and 1990. The Licence Raj
was a result of Nehru and his successors' desire to have a planned
economy where all aspects of the economy were controlled by the state, and
licences were given to a select few. Up to 80 government agencies had to be
satisfied before private companies could produce something; and, if the licence
were granted, the government would regulate production The licence raj system
continued under Indira Gandhi. In addition, many key sectors such as banking,
steel coal, and oil were nationalized Under Rajiv Gandhi, the trade regime were
liberalised with reduction in duties on several import items and incentives to
promote exports Tax rates were reduced and curbs on company assests
loosened
Then-Finance Minister
during the World Economic Summit
2009 in New Delhi
Post Independence
• The Congress was founded by Indian and British members of
the Theosophical Society movement, most notably A.O. Hume.
uUmesh Chandra Bonnerjee was the first President of the INC.
At the time of the Quit India movement, the Congress was
undoubtedly the strongest revolutionary group 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 sole representative of the Indian
people as other parties were there as well notably the Hindu
Mahasabha, Azad Hind Sarkar, and Forward Bloc.
• 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.
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.
• Following the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984, the Indian
National Congress party leaders nominated Rajiv Gandhi to be the next
Prime Minister. He took office by storm, winning major election victory,
and leading the Congress party by winning 411 seats out of 542, in the
Indian Parliament. He helped improve the economic, foreign and
security policies of the country, during his tenure.
• Afterward, former treasurer Sitaram Kesari took over the reins of the
party and oversaw the Congress support to the United
Front governments that ran from 1996 to 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.
Aim and Objectives of the Congress
1. Promotion of the friendship among the countrymen.
2. Development and consolidation of feeling of national unity
3. irrespective of race, caste, religion and provinces.
4. Formation of popular demands and presentation.
5. Government through petitions.
6. Training and organisation of public opinion.
7. Consolidation of sentiments of national unity.
8. Recording of the opinions of educated classes on pressing problems.
9. Laying downlines for future course of action in public interest
• The Indian National Congress through resolution demanded for:
(i) The appointment of a commission to inquire into the working of the Indian
government,
(¡) The abolition of the India council of the Secretary of state for India,
(iii) Creation of legislative councils of the northwest provinces and Awadh and the
Punjab,
(iv) Enhancement of the number of elected members in the central and provincial
legislative councils with the right of interpolation and discussion of the budget and
the creation of a standing committee in the house of commons to look into the
demands of the people,
(v) Reduction of military expenditure and equitable division of expenditure
between India and England,
(vi) Introduction of simultaneous Public Service Examinations in England and India
and raising age of the candidates who wish to appear for ICS. Till 1905, the Indian
National Congress, demanded only for piecemeal reforms through petitions and
prayers.
On the basis of the goal, strategy and technique adopted by the Indian National
Congress, the national movement of India was divided as moderate phase (1885-
1905), extremist phase (1905 to 1918) and the revolutionary phase and finally the
Gandhian phase (1919 to 1947).
Next SlideShares
Indian Prime Minister from the
Congress Party
Jawaharlal Nehru (1947 - 1964)
Gulzarilal Nanda (May - June 1964, 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 – 2014)
Congress Party and Social
Liberalism
Congress has been the ruling party of India for no less than 49
years, though not at a
stretch. The dominant party in Indian political space has formed
government for 10
times, winning majority on six occasions and forming coalitions for
four times.
For its social liberal outlook, the Congress Party is generally placed
on the Centre-Left
of the political spectrum. It adheres to the Gandhian principle of
upliftment of all
sections of society.
Unlike many other contemporary parties, Congress supports liberal
nationalism,
which can also be referred as a more tolerant nationalism with
space for equality,
freedom and rights.
Socialist tendencies and the restrictive economic policies framed by
its government
have often been blamed for the downhill ride of Indian economy.
There is a
significant dichotomy in the party's economic policies.
On the one hand, it supports free market policies, and on the other
hand it adopts a
wait-and-watch approach when it comes to liberalising the economy.
Despite all
these, the party is credited with initiating deregularisation,
liberalisation and
privatisation policies
Bibliography
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Indian_National_Congress
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/
History_of_the_Indian_National_Congress
