Foundation Day of the INC — Balanced Report

A political party recently marked the 138th foundation day of Indian National Congress (INC) on December 28.

The INC was founded on December 28, 1885.
The organization was founded by the English bureaucrat Allan Octavian Hume.
On that day, 72 social reformers, journalists, and lawyers gathered at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Bombay for the first session of the INC.

Stated objectives of INC included-

First, the amalgamation of all the various elements that comprise India’s population into a single national whole.
Second, the nation’s gradual regeneration along all lines, spiritual, moral, social, and political; and third, the consolidation of the union between England and India.

At the time, the goal of this group was not to demand independence from the ongoing colonial rule, but rather to influence British government policies in favor of Indians.
Its goal is frequently described as providing a “safety valve” as a time for Indians to air their grievances and frustrations.
According to Mr. Hume, the Congress organization was “only one result of the labors of a body of cultured men, mostly Indians, who hound themselves together to labor silently for the good of India.”

Ans. Famous for 3P’s: Prayers, Protest and Petitions

The party’s efforts to change colonial administrators’ attitudes and policies regarding Indian rights and powers continued.
Members frequently demonstrated against British colonialism, such as the Bengal famine and the drain of wealth from India.
However, at this point, protests were typically limited to prayers, petitions, and protests, including letters to authorities.
As British rule continued, there were growing differences in how the party should function.

Diverse participation: Having members who held different ideological positions was one of the party’s biggest strengths, helping it appeal to a broad section of Indian society.
Pan-India organization: Its popularity spread throughout the country.

Non-effective: Hume and the party were chastised by the British for attempting to change existing systems that favored them, and by some Indians for failing to produce significant results.
Elite-organization: The party was mostly made up of educated, upper-class people who had likely studied abroad.

In Surat in 1906, there was a split between the’moderates’ led by Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Surendranath Banerjea, and the ‘extremists’ led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
While Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai wanted the Congress to boycott the Prince of Wales’ visit in protest of the Bengal partition a year before, the moderates were opposed.
However, by 1915, the Bombay session saw these two groups reuniting as one.
Even after the party came to completely dominate successive general elections under PM Jawaharlal Nehru, the pattern of splits and eventual cohesion continued.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-politics/on-congress-foundation-day-a-brief-history-of-the-party-8348538/