Indian National Congress
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Indian National Congress |
|---|
 |
| About |
| Committees |
| Frontals |
| Alliances |
| International affiliation |
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party or simply the Congress, is a political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Empire in Asia and Africa.[c][30] 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.[31] The Congress led India to independence from the United Kingdom,[d][32][e][33] and significantly influenced other anti-colonial nationalist movements in the British Empire.[f][30]
The INC is a "big tent" party that has been described as sitting on the centre of the Indian political spectrum.[9][19][34] The party held its first session in 1885 in Bombay where W.C. Bonnerjee presided over it.[35] After Indian independence in 1947, Congress emerged as a catch-all and secular party, dominating Indian politics for the next 50 years. The party's first prime minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, led the Congress to support socialist policies by creating the Planning Commission, introducing Five-Year Plans, implementing a mixed economy, and establishing a secular state. After Nehru's death and the short tenure of Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi became the leader of the party. In the 17 general elections since independence, it has won an outright majority on seven occasions and has led the ruling coalition a further three times, heading the central government for more than 54 years. There have been six prime ministers from the Congress party, the first being Jawaharlal Nehru (1947–1964), and the most recent being Manmohan Singh (2004–2014). Since the 1990s, the Bharatiya Janata Party has emerged as the main rival of the Congress in both national and regional politics.
In 1969, the party suffered a major split, with a faction led by Indira Gandhi leaving to form the Congress (R), with the remainder becoming the Congress (O). The Congress (R) became the dominant faction, winning the 1971 general election by a huge margin. From 1975 to 1977, Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency in India, resulting in widespread oppression and abuses of power. Another split in the party occurred in 1979, leading to the creation of the Congress (I), which was recognized as the Congress by the Election Commission in 1981. Under Rajiv Gandhi's leadership, the party won a massive victory in the 1984 general elections, nevertheless losing the election held in 1989 to the National Front. The Congress then returned to power under P. V. Narasimha Rao, who moved the party towards an economically liberal agenda, a sharp break from previous leaders. However, it lost the 1996 general election and was replaced in government by the National Front. After a record eight years out of office, the Congress-led coalition known as the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) under Manmohan Singh formed a government the 2004 general elections. Subsequently, the UPA again formed the government after winning the 2009 general elections, and Singh became the first prime minister since Indira Gandhi in 1971 to be re-elected after completing a full five-year term. However, under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi in the 2014 general election, the Congress suffered a heavy defeat, winning only 44 seats of the 543-member Lok Sabha (the lower house of the Parliament of India). In the 2019 general election, the party failed to make any substantial gains and won 52 seats, failing to form the official opposition yet again. In the 2024 general election, the party performed better-than-expected, and won 99 seats later becoming 101, forming the official opposition with their highest seat count in a decade.[g][failed verification]
On social issues, it advocates secular policies that encourage equal opportunity, right to health, right to education, civil liberty, and support social market economy, and a strong welfare state. Being a centrist party, its policies predominantly reflected balanced positions including secularism, egalitarianism, and social stratification. The INC supports contemporary economic reforms such as liberalisation, privatisation and globalization. A total of 61 people have served as the president of the INC since its formation. Sonia Gandhi is the longest-serving president of the party, having held office for over twenty years from 1998 to 2017 and again from 2019 to 2022 (as interim). Mallikarjun Kharge is the current party President. The district party is the smallest functional unit of Congress. There is also a Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), present at the state level in every state. Together, the delegates from the districts and PCCs form the All India Congress Committee (AICC). The party is additionally structured into various committees and segments including the Working Committee (CWC), Seva Dal, Indian Youth Congress (IYC), Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), and National Students' Union of India (NSUI). The party holds the annual plenary sessions, at which senior Congress figures promote party policy.
History
Foundation
During the latter part of the 1870s, there were concerted efforts among Indians to establish a pan-Indian organization for nationalist political influence.[38] In 1883, Allan Octavian Hume, a retired British Civil Servant also known for his pro-Indian activities, outlined his idea for a body representing Indian interests in an open letter to graduates of the University of Calcutta.[38] The aim was 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 initiated contact with prominent leaders in India and a notice convening the first meeting of the Indian National Union to be held in Poona the following December, was issued.[39] However, due to a cholera outbreak in Poona it was moved to Bombay.[40][41] Subsequently, the first session of the Indian National Congress held in Bombay from 28 to 31 December 1885 at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College.[42] Hume organized the first meeting in Bombay with the approval of the Viceroy Lord Dufferin. Hume assumed office as the General Secretary, while Umesh Chandra Banerjee was appointed as the first president of Congress.[43] The first session was attended by 72 delegates, with the majority being lawyers, representing each province of India.[44][45] Notable representatives included Scottish ICS officer William Wedderburn, Dadabhai Naoroji, Badruddin Tyabji and 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.[46][47] Notably, there were no women present at this session.[43] During the first session, the Indian delegates presented 9 resolutions to the British authorities including; India Council in London should be abolished, creation of legislative councils for the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), Sindh and Awadh, Civil Services Reform, and Appointment of a commission to enquire into the working of the Indian Administration from 1858- till date.[48] Though, Hume believed that while the British helped bring peace to India, they still had not solved the country’s economic problems.[49]
In its early years, Congress was an assembly for politically active individuals who sought reforms within the British Empire. However, there were two distinct factions within the party. One group was in favor of seeking complete independence from British rule, while the other aimed to bring about reforms within the existing system, with a focus on Indianisation. This division marked the early phase of Congress, as different leaders and members had varied visions for the future of India, ranging from moderate reforms to a push for full sovereignty.[50] They primarily advocated for the 'Indianisation' of administrative services, emphasizing that India should be governed by Indians, with British collaboration. The majority of the founding members of Congress has been educated or lived in Britain. As a result, unrepresentative of the Indian masses at the time,[51] it functioned more as a stage for elite Indian ambitions than a political party for the first two decade of its existence.[52]
Early years
Since its establishment, the Congress was led by Moderate leaders, who were influenced by western political ideas, particularly liberalism. They emphasized individual dignity, the right to freedom, and equality for all, regardless of caste, creed, or sex. This philosophy guided them in opposing British autocracy, demanding the rule of law, equality before the law, and advocating for secularism.[53] However, by 1905, two factions had emerged within the party, leading to different approaches and ideologies regarding the methods to achieve self-rule for India. A division arose between the Moderates, led by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, who believed in a peaceful and constitutional approach to achieve reforms and self-governance within the framework of the British Empire.[54] The moderates preferred to avoid direct conflict with the Britishers, aiming instead to reform their governance to better serve the country's interests. They aimed to collaborate with British authorities and use constitutional means, such as petitions, resolutions, and dialogue, to address the grievances of Indians.[53] Over time, as they recognized the impact of British rule, many moderate leaders shifted their stance and started advocating for Swaraj or self-government for India within the British Empire. Herfeafter, the Moderates followed a two-fold approach to achieve their goals. First, they aimed to build strong public opinion to inspire a sense of national consciousness and unity, while educating the masses on shared political issues. Second, they sought to influence both the British government and public opinion, advocating for reforms in India that aligned with the demands of the nationalists.[53] In 1889, a British branch of the Indian National Congress was set up in London.[55] Dadabhai Naoroji, a member of the sister Indian National Association, was elected president of the Congress in 1886. He was the first Indian Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons (1892–1895) and spent a large part of his life and resources to campaigning for India’s cause on the international stage. The Moderates were able to analyzed the political and economic impacts of British rule in India. Dadabhai Naoroji, Romesh Chunder Dutt, and Dinshaw Wacha and others introduced the Drain Theory to highlight how Britain exploited India's resources.[56] The Drain Theory, proposed by these leaders, challenged the notion that British rule was beneficial for India, shaping a nationwide public opinion that British colonialism was the primary reason for India’s poverty and economic exploitation.[57] The moderate leaders had several demands, including proper representation of Indians on the Legislative Councils and an increase in the powers of these councils. They also advocated for administrative reforms and voiced their opinions on international issues. They opposed the annexation of Burma, the military actions in Afghanistan, and the treatment of tribal people in northwestern India. Additionally, they called for better conditions for Indian workers who had migrated to countries such as South Africa, Malaya, Mauritius, the West Indies, and British Guyana.
On the other hand, the faction led by extremist or radical leaders, including Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, and Lala Lajpat Rai, colloquially, "Lal, Bal, Pal", was more radical in their approach. Emerged as a result of the partition of Bengal in 1905, extremists believed in direct action and criticized the moderate approach, advocating for more assertive and aggressive means to achieve self-rule (Swaraj). They were less willing to compromise with the British and focused on building mass support instilling in them a sense of self -respect, self-reliance, pride in their ancient heritage and national unity to attain their objectives.[58] The Extremist leaders opposed the use of violence against British rule and did not condone methods such as political murder and assassination. They successfully engaged the urban middle and lower classes, as well as mobilized peasants and workers. The Extremist leaders utilized religious symbols to inspire the masses, but they did not intertwine religion with politics. Tilak, tried to mobilise Hindu Indians by appealing to an explicitly Hindu political identity displayed in the annual public Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav and Shiv Jayanti festivals that he inaugurated in western India.[59] Tilak, along with his friend Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, believed that educating the people was the best way to serve the country. In 1876, they founded the New English School in Pune. However, Tilak soon realized that education alone was not sufficient; the people also needed to be aware of the country's condition. To achieve this, he started two weekly publications in 1881: the Maratha in English and Kesari in Marathi. By the end of 1905, Congress was transformed into a mass movement during the partition of Bengal, and the resultant Swadeshi movement.[47] However, the ideological differences between the extremists and moderates led to a deep divide. During its session held in Surat in December 1907, a split occurred between two factions within the Congress known as Surat Split.[60]
Annie Besant, an Irish theosophist, moved to India in 1893 and became actively involved in the Congress.[61] Recognizing the importance of full cooperation from the extremists for the success of the movement, both Tilak and Besant realized that it was necessary to secure the full cooperation of the moderates. In 1915, during the annual session of the Congress held at Lucknow under the presidency of Ambica Charan Mazumdar, it was decided that the extremists led by Tilak would be admitted to the Congress. Inspired by the Irish Home Rule movement, which sought greater autonomy from Britain, Tilak and Besant were influenced by the concept of self-government (Home Rule) and began calling for similar rights for India.[62] However, Tilak and Besant were unable to convince the Indian National Congress to support their proposal to set up Home Rule leagues. As a result, they established separate leagues. Tilak launched the Indian Home Rule League in April 1916 at Belgaum, with its headquarters in Poona. His league operated primarily in Maharashtra (excluding Bombay), Karnataka, and the Central Provinces and Berar.[62] In contrast, Besant set up her All-India Home Rule League in September 1916 in Madras, which grew to include over 200 branches across the country.[61] Prominent leaders who joined or supported the Home Rule movement included Motilal Nehru, Bhulabhai Desai, Jawaharlal Nehru, Chittaranjan Das, Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi, Saifuddin Kitchlew, Madan Mohan Malviya, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Tej Bahadur Sapru, and Lala Lajpat Rai.
Congress as a mass movement
In 1915, Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa and joined Congress.[63][64] His efforts in South Africa were well known not only among the educated but also among the masses. During 1917 and 1918, Mahatma Gandhi was involved in three struggles– known as Champaran Satyagraha, Ahmedabad Mill Strike and Kheda Satyagraha.[65][66][67] After World War I, the party came to be associated with Gandhi, who remained its unofficial spiritual leader and icon.[68] He formed an alliance with the Khilafat Movement in 1920 as part of his opposition to British rule in India,[69] and fought for the rights for Indians using civil disobedience or Satyagraha as the tool for agitation.[70] In 1922, after the deaths of policemen at Chauri Chaura, Gandhi suspended the agitation.
With the help of the moderate group led by Gokhale, in 1924 Gandhi became president of Congress.[71][72] The rise of Gandhi's popularity and his satyagraha art of revolution led to support from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Khan Mohammad Abbas Khan, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Chakravarti Rajgopalachari, Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Jayaprakash Narayan, Jivatram Kripalani, and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. As a result of prevailing nationalism, Gandhi's popularity, and the party's attempts at eradicating caste differences, untouchability, poverty, and religious and ethnic divisions, Congress became a forceful and dominant group.[73][74][75] Although its members were predominantly Hindu, it had members from other religions, economic classes, and ethnic and linguistic groups.[76]
At the Congress 1929 Lahore session under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru, Purna Swaraj (complete independence) was declared as the party's goal, declaring 26 January 1930 as Purna Swaraj Diwas (Independence Day).[77] The same year, Srinivas Iyenger was expelled from the party for demanding full independence, not just home rule as demanded by Gandhi.[78]
After the passage of the Government of India Act 1935, provincial elections were held in India in the winter of 1936–37 in eleven provinces: Madras, Central Provinces, Bihar, Orissa, United Provinces, Bombay Presidency, Assam, NWFP, Bengal, Punjab, and Sindh. The final results of the elections were declared in February 1937.[79] The Indian National Congress gained power in eight of them – the three exceptions being Bengal, Punjab, and Sindh.[79] The All-India Muslim League failed to form a Government in any Province.[80]
Congress Ministers resigned in October and November 1939 in protest against Viceroy Lord Linlithgow's declaration that India was a belligerent in World War II without consulting the Indian people.[81] In 1939, Subhas Chandra Bose, the elected President of India in both 1938 and 1939, resigned from Congress over the selection of the working committee.[82] Congress was an umbrella organisation, sheltering radical socialists, traditionalists, and Hindu and Muslim conservatives. Mahatma Gandhi expelled all the socialist groupings, including the Congress Socialist Party, the Krishak Praja Party, and the Swaraj Party, along with Subhas Chandra Bose, in 1939.[68]
After the failure of the Cripps Mission launched by the British government to gain Indian support for the British war effort, Mahatma Gandhi made a call to "Do or Die" in his Quit India movement delivered in Bombay on 8 August 1942 at the Gowalia Tank Maidan and opposed any help to the British in World War II.[83] The British government responded with mass arrests including that of Gandhi and Congress leaders and killed over 1,000 Indians who participated in this movement.[84] A number of violent attacks were also carried out by the nationalists against the British government.[85] The movement played a role in weakening the control over the South Asian region by the British regime and ultimately paved the way for Indian independence.[85][86]
In 1945, when World War 2 almost came to an end, the Labour Party of the United Kingdom won elections with a promise to provide independence to India.[87][88] The jailed political prisoners of the Quit India movement were released in the same year.[89]
In 1946, the British tried the soldiers of Japanese-sponsored Indian National Army in the INA trials. In response, Congress helped form the INA Defence Committee, which assembled a legal team to defend the case of the soldiers of the Azad Hind government. The team included several famous lawyers, including Bhulabhai Desai, Asaf Ali, and Jawaharlal Nehru.[90] The British Empire eventually backtracked in the face of opposition by the Congress.[91][92]
Post-independence
After Indian independence in 1947, the Indian National Congress became the dominant political party in the country. In 1952, in the first general election held after Independence, the party swept to power in the national parliament and most state legislatures. It held power nationally until 1977 when it was defeated by the Janata coalition. It returned to power in 1980 and ruled until 1989 when it was once again defeated. The party formed the government in 1991 at the head of a coalition, as well as in 2004 and 2009 when it led the United Progressive Alliance. During this period the Congress remained centre-left in its social policies while steadily shifting from a socialist to a neoliberal economic outlook.[93] The Party's rivals at state level have been national parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM), and various regional parties, such as the Telugu Desam Party, Trinamool Congress and Aam Aadmi Party.[94]
A post-partition successor to the party survived as the Pakistan National Congress, a party which represented the rights of religious minorities in the state. The party's support was strongest in the Bengali-speaking province of East Pakistan. After the Bangladeshi War of Independence, it became known as the Bangladeshi National Congress, but was dissolved in 1975 by the government.[95][96][97]
Nehru era (1947–1964)
From 1951 until his death in 1964, Jawaharlal Nehru was the paramount leader of the party. Congress gained power in landslide victories in the general elections of 1951–52, 1957, and 1962.[98] During his tenure, Nehru implemented policies based on import substitution industrialisation, and advocated a mixed economy where the government-controlled public sector co-existed with the private sector.[99] He believed the establishment of basic and heavy industries was fundamental to the development and modernisation of the Indian economy.[98] The Nehru government directed investment primarily into key public sector industries—steel, iron, coal, and power—promoting their development with subsidies and protectionist policies.[99] Nehru embraced secularism, socialistic economic practices based on state-driven industrialisation, and a non-aligned and non-confrontational foreign policy that became typical of the modern Congress Party.[100] The policy of non-alignment during the Cold War meant Nehru received financial and technical support from both the Eastern and Western Blocs to build India's industrial base from nothing.[101][102]
During his period in office, there were four known assassination attempts on Nehru.[103] The first attempt on his life was during partition in 1947 while he was visiting the North-West Frontier Province in a car. The second was by a knife-wielding rickshaw-puller in Maharashtra in 1955.[104] A third attempt happened in Bombay in 1956.[105] The fourth was a failed bombing attempt on railway tracks in Maharashtra in 1961.[103] Despite threats to his life, Nehru despised having excess security personnel around him and did not like his movements to disrupt traffic.[103] K. Kamaraj became the president of the All India Congress Committee in 1963 during the last year of Nehru's life.[106] Prior to that, he had been the chief minister of Madras state for nine years.[107] Kamaraj had also been a member of "the syndicate", a group of right wing leaders within Congress. In 1963 the Congress lost popularity following the defeat in the Indo-Chinese war of 1962. To revitalise the party, Kamaraj proposed the Kamaraj Plan to Nehru that encouraged six Congress chief ministers (including himself) and six senior cabinet ministers to resign to take up party work.[108][109][110]
In 1964, Nehru died because of an aortic dissection, raising questions about the party's future.[111][112][113] Following the death of Nehru, Gulzarilal Nanda was appointed as the interim prime minister on 27 May 1964, pending the election of a new parliamentary leader of the Congress party who would then become prime minister.[114] During the leadership contest to succeed Nehru, the preference was between Morarji Desai and Lal Bahadur Shashtri. Eventually, Shashtri was selected as the next parliamentary leader thus the Prime Minister. Kamaraj was widely credited as the "kingmaker" in for ensuring the victory of Lal Bahadur Shastri over Morarji Desai.[115]
Shastri era (1964–1966)
As prime minister, Shastri retained most of members of Nehru's Council of Ministers; T. T. Krishnamachari was retained as Finance Minister of India, as was Defence Minister Yashwantrao Chavan.[116] Shastri appointed Swaran Singh to succeed him as External Affairs Minister.[117] Shastri appointed Indira Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru's daughter and former party president, Minister of Information and Broadcasting.[118] Gulzarilal Nanda continued as the Minister of Home Affairs.[119] As Prime Minister, Shastri continued Nehru's policy of non-alignment,[120] but built closer relations with the Soviet Union. In the aftermath of the Sino-Indian War of 1962, and the formation of military ties between China and Pakistan, Shastri's government expanded the defence budget of India's armed forces. He also promoted the White Revolution—a national campaign to increase the production and supply of milk by creating the National Dairy Development Board.[121] The Madras anti-Hindi agitation of 1965 occurred during Shastri's tenure.[122][123]
Shastri became a national hero following victory in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.[124] His slogan, "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" ("Hail the soldier, Hail the farmer"), became very popular during the war.[125] On 11 January 1966, a day after signing the Tashkent Declaration, Shastri died in Tashkent, reportedly of a heart attack; but the circumstances of his death remain mysterious.[126][127][128] After Shastri's death, Congress elected Indira Gandhi as leader over Morarji Desai. Once again, K. Kamaraj was instrumental in achieving this result. The differences among the top leadership of the Congress regarding the future of the party during resulted in the formation of several breakaway parties such as Orissa Jana Congress, Bangla Congress, Utkal Congress, and, Bharatiya Kranti Dal.
Indira Gandhi era (1966–1984)
In 1967, following a poor performance in the 1967 Indian general election, Indira Gandhi started moving toward the political left. On 12 July 1969, Congress Parliamentary Board nominated Neelam Sanjiva Reddy as Congress's candidate for the post of President of India by a vote of four to two. K. Kamaraj, Morarji Desai and S. K. Patil voted for Reddy. Indira Gandhi and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed voted for V. V. Giri and Congress President S. Nijalingappa, Home Minister Yashwantrao Chavan and Agriculture Minister Jagjivan Ram abstained from voting.[129][130]
In mid-1969, she was involved in a dispute with senior party leaders on several issues. Notably – Her support for the independent candidate, V. V. Giri, rather than the official Congress party candidate, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, for the vacant post of the president of India[131][132] and Gandhi's abrupt nationalisation of the 14 biggest banks in India.
Congress split, 1969
In November 1969, the Congress party president, S. Nijalingappa, expelled Indira Gandhi from the party for indiscipline.[133][134] Subsequently, Gandhi launched her own faction of the INC which came to be known as Congress (R).[h] The original party then came to be known as Indian National Congress (O).[i] Its principal leaders were Kamraj, Morarji Desai, Nijalingappa and S. K. Patil who stood for a more right-wing agenda.[135] The split occurred when a united opposition under the banner of Samyukt Vidhayak Dal, won control over several states in the Hindi Belt.[136] Indira Gandhi, on the other side, wanted to use a populist agenda in order to mobilise popular support for the party.[135] Her faction, called Congress (R), was supported by most of the Congress MPs while the original party had the support of only 65 MPs.[137] In the All India Congress Committee, 446 of its 705 members walked over to Indira's side. The "Old Congress" retained the party symbol of a pair of bullocks carrying a yoke while Indira's breakaway faction was given a new symbol of a cow with a suckling calf by the Election Commission as the party election symbol. The Congress (O) eventually merged with other opposition parties to form the Janata Party.
"India might be an ancient country but was a young democracy and as such should remain vigilant against the domination of few over the social, economic or political systems. Banks should be publicly owned so that they catered to not just large industries and big businesses but also agriculturists, small industries and entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the private banks had been functioning erratically with hundreds of them failing and causing loss to the depositors who were given no guarantee against such loss."
In the mid-term 1971 Indian general election, the Gandhi-led Congress (R) won a landslide victory on a platform of progressive policies such as the elimination of poverty (Garibi Hatao).[139] The policies of the Congress (R) under Gandhi before the 1971 elections included proposals to abolish the Privy Purse to former rulers of the Princely states, and the 1969 nationalisation of India's 14 largest banks.[140] The 1969 attempt by Indira Gandhi government to abolish privy purse and the official recognition of the titles did not meet with success. The constitutional Amendment bill to this effect was passed in Lok Sabha, but it failed to get the required two-thirds majority in the Rajya Sabha. However, in 1971, with the passage of the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the Constitution of India, the privy purses were abolished.
Due to Sino-Indian War 1962, India faced a huge budgetary deficit resulting in its treasury being almost empty, high inflation, and dwindling forex reserves. The brief War of 1962 exposed weaknesses in the economy and shifted the focus towards the defence industry and the Indian Army. The government found itself short of resources to fund the Third Plan (1961–1966). Subhadra Joshi a senior party member, proposed a non-official resolution asking for the nationalisation of private banks stating that nationalisation would help in mobilising resources for development.[141] In July 1969, Indira Gandhi through the ordinance nationalised fourteen major private banks.[142] After being re-elected in 1971 on a campaign that endorsed nationalisation, Indira Gandhi went on to nationalise the coal, steel, copper, refining, cotton textiles and insurance industries. The main reason was to protect employment and the interest of the organised labour.[141]
On 12 June 1975, the High Court of Allahabad declared Indira Gandhi's election to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India's parliament, void on the grounds of electoral malpractice.[143] However, Gandhi rejected calls to resign and announced plans to appeal to the Supreme Court. In response to increasing disorder and lawlessness, Gandhi's ministry recommended that President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declare a State of Emergency, based on the provisions of Article 352 of the Constitution.[144] During the nineteen-month emergency, widespread oppression and abuse of power by Gandhi's unelected younger son and political heir Sanjay Gandhi and his close associates occurred.[145][146][147] Implemented on 25 June 1975, the Emergency officially ended on 21 March 1977.[148] All political prisoners were released and fresh elections for the Lok Sabha were called.[149] In parliamentary elections held in March, the Janata alliance of anti-Indira opposition parties won a landslide victory over Congress, winning 295 seats in the Lok Sabha against Congress' 153. Gandhi lost her seat to her Janata opponent Raj Narain.
Formation of Congress (I)
On 2 January 1978, Indira and her followers seceded and formed a new opposition party, popularly called Congress (I)—the "I" signifying Indira.[150] During the next year, her new party attracted enough members of the legislature to become the official opposition.[151] In November 1978, Gandhi regained a parliamentary seat. In January 1980, following a landslide victory for Congress (I), she was again elected prime minister.[152] The national election commission declared Congress (I) to be the real Indian National Congress for the 1984 general election.[citation needed] However, the designation I was dropped only in 1996.[151][152]
Punjab crisis
Gandhi's premiership witnessed increasing turmoil in Punjab, with demands for Sikh autonomy by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his militant followers.[153] In 1983, Bhindranwale with his armed followers headquartered themselves in the Golden Temple in Amritsar and started accumulating weapons.[154] In June 1984, after several futile negotiations, Gandhi ordered the Indian Army to enter the Golden Temple to establish control over the complex and remove Bhindranwale and his armed followers. This event is known as Operation Blue Star.[155] On 31 October 1984, two of Gandhi's bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, shot her with their service weapons in the garden of the prime minister's residence in response to her authorisation of Operation Blue Star.[154] Gandhi was due to be interviewed by British actor Peter Ustinov, who was filming a documentary for Irish television.[156] Her assassination prompted the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, during which 3,000–17,000 people were killed.[157][158][159][160]
Rajiv Gandhi era (1984–1991)
.jpg)
In 1984, Indira Gandhi's son Rajiv Gandhi became nominal head of Congress, and went on to become prime minister upon her assassination.[161] In December, he led Congress to a landslide victory, where it secured 401 seats in the parliament.[162] His administration took measures to reform the government bureaucracy and liberalise the country's economy.[163] Rajiv Gandhi's attempts to discourage separatist movements in Punjab and Kashmir backfired. After his government became embroiled in several financial scandals, his leadership became increasingly ineffectual.[164] Gandhi was regarded as a non-abrasive person who consulted other party members and refrained from hasty decisions.[165] The Bofors scandal damaged his reputation as an honest politician, but he was posthumously cleared of bribery allegations in 2004.[166] On 21 May 1991, Gandhi was killed by a bomb concealed in a basket of flowers carried by a woman associated with the Tamil Tigers.[167] He was campaigning in Tamil Nadu for upcoming parliamentary elections. In 1998, an Indian court convicted 26 people in the conspiracy to assassinate Gandhi.[168] The conspirators, who consisted of Tamil militants from Sri Lanka and their Indian allies, had sought revenge against Gandhi because the Indian troops he sent to Sri Lanka in 1987 to help enforce a peace accord there had fought with Tamil Militant guerrillas.[169][170]
The mid-1990s marked a period of political flux in India, with frequent changes in government and coalition dynamics. Rajiv Gandhi was succeeded as party leader by P. V. Narasimha Rao, who was elected prime minister in June 1991.[171]
P. V. Narasimha Rao era (1991–1998)
His rise to the prime ministership was politically significant because he was the first person from South India to hold the office, marking a shift from the traditionally northern-dominated leadership in Indian politics. After the election, he formed a minority government. Rao himself did not contest elections in 1991, but after he was sworn in as prime minister, he won in a by-election from Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh.[172] His administration oversaw major economic change and experienced several domestic incidents that affected India's national security.[173] Rao, who held the Industries portfolio, was personally responsible for the dismantling of the Licence Raj, which came under the purview of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.[174] Rao accelerated the dismantling of the Licence Raj, reversing the socialist policies of previous governments.[175][176] He employed Manmohan Singh as his finance minister to begin historic economic changes. With Rao's mandate, Singh launched reforms for India's globalisation that involved implementing International Monetary Fund (IMF) policies to prevent India's impending economic collapse.[174] Future prime ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh continued the economic reform policies begun by Rao's government. He is often called the "Father of Indian economic reforms".[177][178] Rao was also referred to as Chanakya for his ability to push tough economic and political legislation through the parliament while heading a minority government.[179][180]
By 1996, party found itself in a complex political landscape. It faced internal challenges, including factionalism and leadership struggles, allegations of corruption, and a degree of anti-incumbency sentiment. The 1996 general elections witnessed the emergence of a fractured mandate, leading to the absence of a clear majority for any single party. Congress was reduced to 140 seats in elections that year, its lowest number in the Lok Sabha yet. Rao later resigned as prime minister and, in September, as party president.[181] He was succeeded as president by Sitaram Kesri, the party's first non-Brahmin leader.[182] During the tenure of both Rao and Kesri, the two leaders conducted internal elections to the Congress working committees and their own posts as party presidents.[183]
Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh era (1998–2014)
The 1998 general elections saw Congress win 141 seats in the Lok Sabha, its lowest tally until then.[184] To boost its popularity and improve its performance in the forthcoming election, Congress leaders urged Sonia Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi's widow, to assume leadership of the party.[185] She had previously declined offers to become actively involved in party affairs and had stayed away from politics.[186] After her election as party leader, a section of the party that objected to the choice because of her Italian ethnicity broke away and formed the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Sharad Pawar.[187]
Sonia Gandhi struggled to revive the party in her early years as its president; she was under continuous scrutiny for her foreign birth and lack of political acumen. In the snap elections called by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in 1999, Congress' tally further plummeted to just 114 seats.[188] Although the leadership structure was unaltered as the party campaigned strongly in the assembly elections that followed, Gandhi began to make such strategic changes as abandoning the party's 1998 Pachmarhi resolution of ekla chalo (go it alone) policy, and formed alliances with other like-minded parties. In the intervening years, the party was successful at various legislative assembly elections; at one point, Congress ruled 15 states.[189] For the 2004 general election, Congress forged alliances with regional parties including the NCP and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.[190] The party's campaign emphasised social inclusion and the welfare of the common masses—an ideology that Gandhi herself endorsed for Congress during her presidency—with slogans such as Congress ka haath, aam aadmi ke saath ("Congress hand in hand with the common man"), contrasting with the NDA's "India Shining" campaign.[188][191][192] The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) won 222 seats in the new parliament, defeating the NDA by a substantial margin. With the subsequent support of the communist front, Congress won a majority and formed a new government.[193]
Despite massive support from within the party, Gandhi declined the post of prime minister, choosing to appoint Manmohan Singh instead.[194] She remained as party president and headed the National Advisory Council (NAC).[195] During its first term in office, the UPA government passed several social reform bills. These included an employment guarantee bill, the Right to Information Act, and a right to education act. The NAC, as well as the Left Front that supported the government from the outside, were widely seen as being the driving force behind such legislation. The Left Front withdrew its support of the government over disagreements about the U.S.–India Civil Nuclear Agreement. Despite the effective loss of 62 seats in parliament, the government survived the trust vote that followed.[196]
In the Lok Sabha elections held soon after, Congress won 207 seats, the highest tally of any party since 1991. The UPA won 262, enabling it to form a government for the second time. The social welfare policies of the first UPA government, and the perceived divisiveness of the BJP, are broadly credited with the victory.[197]
Rahul Gandhi and modern era (2014–present)
By the 2014 election, the party had lost much of its popular support, mainly due to several years of poor economic conditions in the country, and growing discontent over a series of corruption allegations involving government officials, including the 2G spectrum case and the Indian coal allocation scam, as well as the ineptness towards national security, particularly the insensitivity in the aftermath of the 2011 Mumbai bombings.[198][199][200] The Congress won only 44 seats in the Lok Sabha, compared to the 336 of the BJP and the NDA.[201] The UPA suffered a landslide defeat, which was the party's worst-ever national electoral performance with its vote share dipping below 20 per cent for the first time.[202] Sonia Gandhi retired as party president in December 2017, having served for a record nineteen years. She was succeeded by her son Rahul Gandhi, who was elected unopposed in the 2017 INC presidential election.[193]
Rahul Gandhi resigned from his post after the 2019 election, due to the party's dismal electoral performance.[203] The party only won 52 seats, eight more than the previous election. Its vote percentage once again fell below 20 per cent. Following Gandhi's resignation, party leaders began deliberations for a suitable candidate to replace him. The Congress Working Committee met on 10 August to make a final decision on the matter and passed a resolution asking Sonia Gandhi to take over as interim president until a consensus candidate could be picked.[204][205] Following the election, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was chosen as the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha,[206] Gaurav Gogoi was chosen as the deputy leader in Lok Sabha, and Ravneet Singh Bittu was chosen as the party whip.[207] Based on an analysis of the candidates' poll affidavits, a report by the National Election Watch (NEW) and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) says that, the Congress has highest political defection rate since 2014. According to the report, a total of 222 electoral candidates had left the Congress to join other parties during elections held between 2014 and 2021, as 177 MPs and MLAs quit the party.[208] The defections resulted in a loss of the party's established governments in Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Puducherry, and Manipur.
On 28 August 2022, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) held an election for the next president of the INC, to succeed Rahul Gandhi. The election was held on 17 October 2022 and counting took place on 19 October 2022.[209] The candidates in the race were Kerala MP Shashi Tharoor and Karnataka MP Mallikarjun Kharge.[210] Mallikarjun Kharge won the election in a landslide,[1] securing 7,897 out of the 9,385 votes cast. His rival, Shashi Tharoor, secured 1,072 votes.[2]
Kharge would lead the party into the 2024 Indian general election, where the party made significant gains in Uttar Pradesh and other states, securing 99 seats — enough to elect Rahul Gandhi as leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The election was the best result for the party since 2009. The party was the principal opposition party within the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), which was formed in 2023.[211][212]
General election results
In the first parliamentary elections held in 1952, the INC won 364 seats, which was 76 per cent of the 479 contested seats.[213] The vote share of the INC was 45 per cent of all votes cast.[214] Till the 1971 general elections, the party's voting percentage remain intact at 40 per cent. However, the 1977 general elections resulted in a heavy defeat for the INC. Many notable INC party leader lost their seats, winning only 154 seats in the Lok Sabha.[215] The INC again returned to power in the 1980 Indian general election securing a 42.7 per cent vote share of all votes, winning 353 seats. INC's vote share kept increasing till 1980 and then to a record high of 48.1 per cent by 1984/85. Rajiv Gandhi on assuming the post of prime minister in October 1984 recommended early elections. The general elections were to be held in January 1985; instead, they were held in December 1984. The Congress won an overwhelming majority, securing 415 seats out of 533, the largest ever majority in independent India's Lok Sabha elections history.[216] This winning recorded a vote share of 49.1 per cent resulting in an overall increase to 48.1 per cent. The party got 32.14 per cent of voters in polls held in Punjab and Assam in 1985.[214]
In November 1989, general elections were held to elect the members of the 9th Lok Sabha.[217] The Congress did badly in the elections, though it still managed to be the largest single party in the Lok Sabha. Its vote share started decreasing to 39.5 per cent in the 1989 general elections. The 13th Lok Sabha term was to end in October 2004, but the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government decided on early polls. The Lok Sabha was dissolved in February itself and the country went to the polls in April–May 2004. The INC, led by Sonia Gandhi unexpectedly emerged as the single largest party.[218] After the elections, Congress joined up with minor parties to form the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). The UPA with external support from the Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party, Kerala Congress, and the Left Front managed a comfortable majority.[218] Congress has lost nearly 20% of its vote share in general elections held between 1996 and 2009.[208]
| Year | Legislature | Party leader | Seats won | Change in seats |
Percentage of votes |
Vote swing |
Outcome | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | 5th Central Legislative Assembly | Bhulabhai Desai | 42 / 147
|
 42
|
— | — | — | [219] |
| 1945 | 6th Central Legislative Assembly | Sarat Chandra Bose | 59 / 102
|
17
|
— | — | Interim Government of India (1946–1947) | [220] |
| 1951 | 1st Lok Sabha | Jawaharlal Nehru | 364 / 489
|
364
|
44.99% | — | Majority | [221] |
| 1957 | 2nd Lok Sabha | 371 / 494
|
7
|
47.78% | 2.79%
|
Majority | [222] | |
| 1962 | 3rd Lok Sabha | 361 / 494
|
 10
|
44.72% | 3.06%
|
Majority | [223] | |
| 1967 | 4th Lok Sabha | Indira Gandhi | 283 / 520
|
78
|
40.78% | 2.94%
|
Majority (1967–69) Coalition (1969–71) |
[224] |
| 1971 | 5th Lok Sabha | 352 / 518
|
69
|
43.68% | 2.90%
|
Majority | [225] | |
| 1977 | 6th Lok Sabha | 153 / 542
|
199
|
34.52% | 9.16%
|
Opposition | [226] | |
| 1980 | 7th Lok Sabha | 351 / 542
|
198
|
42.69% | 8.17%
|
Majority | [152] | |
| 1984 | 8th Lok Sabha | Rajiv Gandhi | 415 / 533
|
64
|
49.01% | 6.32%
|
Majority | [227] |
| 1989 | 9th Lok Sabha | 197 / 545
|
218
|
39.53% | 9.48%
|
Opposition | [228] | |
| 1991 | 10th Lok Sabha | P. V. Narasimha Rao | 244 / 545
|
47
|
35.66% | 3.87%
|
Coalition | [229] |
| 1996 | 11th Lok Sabha | 140 / 545
|
104
|
28.80% | 7.46%
|
Opposition, later outside support for UF | [230] | |
| 1998 | 12th Lok Sabha | Sitaram Kesri | 141 / 545
|
1
|
25.82% | 2.98%
|
Opposition | [231][232] |
| 1999 | 13th Lok Sabha | Sonia Gandhi | 114 / 545
|
27
|
28.30% | 2.48%
|
Opposition | [233][234] |
| 2004 | 14th Lok Sabha | 145 / 543
|
31
|
26.7% | 1.6%
|
Coalition | [235] | |
| 2009 | 15th Lok Sabha | Manmohan Singh | 206 / 543
|
61
|
28.55% | 2.02%
|
Coalition | [236] |
| 2014 | 16th Lok Sabha | Rahul Gandhi | 44 / 543
|
162
|
19.3% | 9.25%
|
Opposition | [237][238] |
| 2019 | 17th Lok Sabha | 52 / 543
|
8
|
19.5% | 0.2%
|
Opposition | [239] | |
| 2024 | 18th Lok Sabha | Mallikarjun Kharge | 99 / 543
|
47
|
21.19% | 1.7%
|
Opposition | [240] |
| All time-INC Lok Sabha seat count |
 |
Political positions
| Part of a series on |
| Liberalism |
|---|
 |
Social affairs
The Congress party emphasizes social equality, freedom, secularism, and equal opportunity.[241] Its political position is generally considered to be in the centre.[34] Historically, the party has represented farmers, labourers, and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).[242] The 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).[242]
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."[243] On 9 November 1989, Rajiv Gandhi had allowed Shilanyas (foundation stone-laying ceremony) adjacent to the then disputed Ram Janmabhoomi site.[244] 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 damaged the Congress's party moral argument over secularism. The BJP questioned the Congress party's moral authority in questioning it about the 2002 Gujarat riots.[245] The Congress has distanced itself from Hindutva ideology, though the party has softened its stance after defeat in the 2014 and 2019 general elections.[246]
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.[247] 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.[248]
After independence, Congress advocated the idea of establishing Hindi as the sole national language of India. Nehru led the faction of the Congress party which promoted Hindi as the lingua franca of the Indian nation.[249] However, the non-Hindi-speaking Indian states, especially Tamil Nadu, opposed it and wanted the continued use of the English language. Lal Bahadur Shastri's tenure witnessed several protests and riots including the Madras anti-Hindi agitation of 1965.[250] Shashtri's appealed to agitators to withdraw the movement and assured them that the English would continue to be used as the official language as long as the non-Hindi speaking states wanted.[251] Indira Gandhi assuaged the sentiments of the non-Hindi speaking states by getting the Official Languages Act amended in 1967 to provide that the use of English could continue until a resolution to end the use of the language was passed by the legislature of every state that had not adopted use Hindi as its official language, and by each house of the Indian Parliament.[252] This was a guarantee of de facto use of both Hindi and English as official languages, thus establishing bilingualism in India.[253] The step led to the end of the anti-Hindi protests and riots in states.
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which, among other things, criminalizes homosexuality; former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said, "Sexuality is a matter of personal freedom and should be left to individuals". Leading party figure and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram stated that the Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India judgment must be quickly reversed". On 18 December 2015, Shashi Tharoor leading member of the party introduced a private member's bill to replace Section 377 in the Indian Penal Code and decriminalize consensual same-sex relations. The bill was defeated in the first reading. In March 2016, Tharoor again reintroduce the private member's bill to decriminalize homosexuality but was voted down for the second time.
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.[254] 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.[255][256]
At the beginning of the first period, erstwhile 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,[257] 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.[258] 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.[259] The licence raj system continued under Indira Gandhi. In addition, many key sectors such as banking, steel coal, and oil were nationalized.[137][260] Under Rajiv Gandhi, the trade regime were liberalised with reduction in duties on several import items and incentives to promote exports.[261] Tax rates were reduced and curbs on company assets loosened.[262]
In 1991, the new Congress government, led by P. V. Narasimha Rao, initiated reforms to avert the impending 1991 economic crisis.[178][263] The reforms known as New Economic Policy (NEP) or "1991 economic reforms" or "LPG reforms", progressed furthest in opening up areas to foreign investment, reforming capital markets, deregulating domestic business, and reforming the trade regime. The reforms were implemented during a time when India grappled with a balance of payments crisis, elevated inflation, underperforming public sector undertakings (PSUs), and a substantial fiscal deficit.[264] It also aimed to transition the economy from a socialist model to a market economy.[265] The goals of Rao's government were to reduce the fiscal deficit, privatise the public sector, and increase investment in infrastructure.[266] Trade reforms and changes in the regulation of foreign direct investment were introduced to open India to foreign trade while stabilising external loans.[267] Rao chose Manmohan Singh for the job. Singh, an acclaimed economist and former governor of the Reserve Bank of India, played a central role in implementing these reforms.[268]
In 2004, Singh became prime minister of the Congress-led UPA government. Singh remained prime minister after the UPA won the 2009 general elections. The UPA government introduced policies aimed at reforming the banking and financial sectors, as well as public sector companies.[269] It also introduced policies aimed at relieving farmers of their debt.[270] In 2005, Singh government introduced the value-added tax, replacing the sales tax. India was able to resist the worst effects of the global economic crisis of 2008.[271][272] Singh's government continued the Golden Quadrilateral, the Indian highway modernisation program that was initiated by Vajpayee's government.[273] Then Finance Minister of India Pranab Mukherjee implemented many tax reforms, notably scrapping the Fringe Benefits Tax and the Commodities Transaction Tax.[274] He implemented the Goods and Services Tax (GST) during his tenure.[275] His reforms were well received by major corporate executives and economists. The introduction of retrospective taxation, however, has been criticised by some economists.[276] Mukherjee expanded funding for several social sector schemes including the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). He also supported budget increases for improving literacy and health care. He expanded infrastructure programmes such as the National Highway Development Programme.[277] Electricity coverage was also expanded during his tenure. Mukherjee also reaffirmed his commitment to the principle of fiscal prudence as some economists expressed concern about the rising fiscal deficits during his tenure, the highest since 1991. Mukherjee declared the expansion in government spending was only temporary.[278]
National defence and home affairs
Since its independence, India was in pursuing of nuclear capabilities, as Nehru felt that nuclear energy could take the country forward and help achieve its developmental goals.[279] Consequently, Nehru began to seek assistance from the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.[280][281] In 1958 the government of India with the help of Homi J. Bhabha adopted a three-phase power production plan and the Nuclear Research Institute was established in 1954.[282] Indira Gandhi witnessed continuous nuclear testing by China from 1964 onwards, which she considered an existential threat to India.[283][284] India conducted its first nuclear test in the Pokhran desert in Rajasthan on 18 May 1974, under the name Operation Smiling Buddha.[285] India asserted that the test was for "peaceful purposes", However, the test was criticized by other countries and the United States and Canada suspended all nuclear support to India.[286] Despite intense international criticism, the nuclear test was domestically popular and caused an immediate revival of Indira Gandhi's popularity, which had flagged considerably from its heights after the 1971 war.[287][288]
The transition to statehood for parts of Northeast India was successfully overseen under Indira Gandhi's premiership.[289] In 1972, her administration granted statehood to Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura, while the North-East Frontier Agency was declared a union territory and renamed Arunachal Pradesh.[290][291] This was followed by the annexation of Sikkim in 1975.[292] In the late 1960s and 1970s, Gandhi ordered the Indian army to militant Communist uprisings in the state of West Bengal. The Naxalite–Maoist insurgency in India was entirely suppressed during the state of emergency.[293]
Manmohan Singh's administration initiated a massive reconstruction effort in Kashmir to stabilize the region and strengthened anti-terrorism laws with amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).[294] After a period of initial success, insurgent infiltration and terrorism in Kashmir have increased since 2009. However, the Singh administration was successful in reducing terrorism in Northeast India.[295] Under the background of the Punjab insurgency, the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) was passed. The aim of the law is mainly directed toward eliminating the infiltrators from Pakistan. The law gave wide powers to law enforcement agencies for dealing with national terrorist and socially disruptive activities. The police were not obliged to produce a detainee before a judicial magistrate within 24 hours. The law was widely criticized by human rights organizations. After the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, the UPA government created the National Investigation Agency (NIA), in response to the need for a central agency to combat terrorism.[296] The Unique Identification Authority of India was established in February 2009 to implement the proposed Multipurpose National Identity Card, to increase national security.[297]
Education and healthcare
The Congress government under Nehru oversaw the establishment of many institutions of higher learning, including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the Indian Institutes of Technology, the Indian Institutes of Management and the National Institutes of Technology. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) was established in 1961 as a literary, scientific, and charitable Society under the Societies Registration Act.[298] Jawahar Lal Nehru outlined a commitment in his five-year plans to guarantee free and compulsory primary education to all of India's children. Rajiv Gandhi's premiership pioneered public information infrastructure and innovation in India.[299] His government allowed the import of fully assembled motherboards, which led to the price of computers being reduced.[300] The concept of having Navodaya Vidyalaya in every district of India was born as a part of the National Policy on Education (NPE).[301]
In 2005, The Congress-led government started the National Rural Health Mission, which employed about 500,000 community health workers. It was praised by economist Jeffrey Sachs.[302] In 2006, it implemented a proposal to reserve 27 per cent of seats in the All India Institute of Medical Studies (AIIMS), the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), and other central higher education institutions, for Other Backward Classes, which led to the 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests.[303] The Singh government also continued the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan program, which includes the introduction and improvement of mid-day school meals and the opening of new schools throughout India, especially in rural areas, to fight illiteracy.[304] During Manmohan Singh's prime ministership, eight Institutes of Technology were opened in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Orissa, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Himachal Pradesh.[305]
Foreign policies
.svg)
Throughout much of the Cold War period, Congress supported a foreign policy of non-alignment that called for India to form ties with both the Western and Eastern Blocs, but to avoid formal alliances with either.[306] US support for Pakistan led the party to endorse a friendship treaty with the Soviet Union in 1971.[307] Congress has continued the foreign policy started by P. V. Narasimha Rao. This includes the peace process with Pakistan, and the exchange of high-level visits by leaders from both countries.[308] The UPA government has tried to end the border dispute with the People's Republic of China through negotiations.[309][310] Relations with Afghanistan have also been a concern for Congress.[311] During Afghan President Hamid Karzai's visit to New Delhi in August 2008, Manmohan Singh increased the aid package to Afghanistan for the development of schools, health clinics, infrastructure, and defence.[312] India is now one of the single largest aid donors to Afghanistan.[312] To nourish political, security, cultural and economical connections with central Asian countries, it launched Connect Central Asia policy in 2012. This policy is aimed at strengthening and expanding India's relations with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Look East policy was initiated in 1992 by Narasimha Rao to cultivate extensive economic and strategic relations with the nations of Southeast Asia to bolster its standing as a regional power and a counterweight to the strategic influence of the People's Republic of China. Subsequently, in 1992 Rao decided to bring into open India's relations with Israel, which had been kept covertly active for a few years during his tenure as a Foreign Minister, and permitted Israel to open an embassy in New Delhi.[313] Rao decided to maintain a distance from the Dalai Lama to avoid aggravating Beijing's suspicions and concerns, and made successful overtures to Tehran.[314]
Even though the Congress foreign policy doctrine stands for maintaining friendly relations with all the countries of the world, it has always exhibited a special bias towards the Afro-Asian nations. It played active role in forming Group of 77 (1964, Group of 15 (1990), Indian Ocean Rim Association, and SAARC. Indira Gandhi firmly tied Indian anti-imperialist interests in Africa to those of the Soviet Union. She openly and enthusiastically supported liberation struggles in Africa.[315] In April 2006, New Delhi hosted an India–Africa summit attended by the leaders of 15 African states.[316]
The party opposes arms race and advocates disarmament, both conventional and nuclear.[317] When in power between 2004 and 2014, Congress worked on India's relationship with the United States. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited the US in July 2005 to negotiate an India–United States Civil Nuclear Agreement. US president George W. Bush visited India in March 2006; during this visit, a nuclear agreement that would give India access to nuclear fuel and technology in exchange for the IAEA inspection of its civil nuclear reactors was proposed. Over two years of negotiations, followed by approval from the IAEA, the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the United States Congress, the agreement was signed on 10 October 2008.[318] However, it has not signed Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) due to their discriminatory and hegemonistic nature.[319][320]
Congress' policy has been to cultivate friendly relations with Japan as well as European Union countries including the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.[321] Diplomatic relations with Iran have continued, and negotiations over the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline have taken place.[322] Congress' policy has also been to improve relations with other developing countries, particularly Brazil and South Africa.[323]
Structure and composition
At present, the president and the All India Congress Committee (AICC) are elected by delegates from state and district parties at an annual national conference; in every Indian state and union territory—or pradesh—there is a Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC),[324] which is the state-level unit of the party responsible for directing political campaigns at local and state levels, and assisting the campaigns for parliamentary constituencies.[325] Each PCC has a working committee of twenty members, most of whom are appointed by the party president, the leader of the state party, who is chosen by the national president. Those elected as members of the states' legislative assemblies form the Congress Legislature Parties in the various state assemblies; their chairperson is usually the party's nominee for Chief Ministership. The party is also organised into various committees, and sections; it publishes a daily newspaper, the National Herald.[326] Despite being a party with a structure, Congress under Indira Gandhi did not hold any organisational elections after 1972.[327] Nonetheless, in 2004, when the Congress was voted back into power, Manmohan Singh became the first prime minister not to be the president of the party since establishment of the practice of the president holding both positions.[328]
The AICC is composed of delegates sent from the PCCs.[326] The delegates elect Congress committees, including the Congress Working Committee, consisting of senior party leaders and office-bearers. The AICC takes all-important executive and political decisions. Since Indira Gandhi formed Congress (I) in 1978, the President of the Indian National Congress has effectively been the party's national leader, head of the organisation, head of the Working Committee and all chief Congress committees, chief spokesman, and Congress' choice for Prime Minister of India. Constitutionally, the president is elected by the PCCs and members of the AICC; however, this procedure has often been bypassed by the Working Committee, which has elected its candidate.[326]
The Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) consists of elected MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. There is also a Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader in each state. The CLP consists of all Congress Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in each state. In cases of states where the Congress is single-handedly ruling the government, the CLP leader in the chief minister. Other directly affiliated groups include:
- National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the students' wing of the Congress.
- Indian Youth Congress, the party's youth wing.
- Indian National Trade Union Congress, the labour union.
- All India Mahila Congress, its women's division.
- Kisan and Khet Mazdoor Congress, its peasant's wing.
- All India Professionals Congress, its working professionals wing.
- Congress Seva Dal, its voluntary organisation.[329][330]
- All India Congress Minority Department, also referred to as Minority Congress is the minority wing of the Congress party. It is represented by the Pradesh Congress Minority Department in all the states of India.[331]
Election symbols
As of 2021[update], the election symbol of Congress, as approved by the Election Commission of India, is an image of a right hand with its palm facing front and its fingers pressed together;[332] this is usually shown in the centre of a tricolor flag. The hand symbol was first used by Indira Gandhi when she split from the Congress (R) faction following the 1977 elections and created the New Congress (I).[333] The hand is symbolic of strength, energy, and unity.
The party under the stewardship of Nehru had the symbol 'Pair of bullocks carrying a yoke' which struck a chord with masses who were predominantly farmers.[334] In 1969, due to internal conflicts within the Congress party, Indira Gandhi decided to break out and form a party of her own, with the majority of the Congress party members in support of her in the new party which was named Congress(R). The symbol of Indira's Congress (R) or Congress (Requisitionists) during the 1971–1977 period was a cow with a suckling calf.[335][135] After losing the support of 76 out of the party's 153 members in the Lok Sabha, Indira's new political outfit the Congress (I) or Congress (Indira) evolved and she opted for the hand (open palm) symbol.
Dynasticism
Dynasticism is fairly common in many political parties in India, including the Congress party.[336] Six members of the Nehru–Gandhi family have been presidents of the party.[337] The party started being controlled by Indira Gandhi's family during the emergency with her younger son, Sanjay taking on a prominent role.[338] This was characterized by servility and sycophancy towards the family which later led to a hereditary succession of Rajiv Gandhi as successor after Indira Gandhi's assassination, as well as the party's selection of Sonia Gandhi as Rajiv's successor after his assassination, which she turned down.[339] Since the formation of Congress (I) by Indira Gandhi in 1978 till 2022, the party president has been from her family except for the period between 1991 and 1998. In the last three elections to the Lok Sabha combined, 37 per cent of Congress party MPs had family members precede them in politics.[340] However, in recent times there have been calls from within the party to restructure the organization. A group of senior leaders wrote a letter to the party president to reform the Congress allowing others to take charge. There was also visible discontent post the loss in 2019 elections after which a group of 23 senior leaders wrote to the Congress President to restructure the party.[341]
Presence in states and Union Territories
Indian National Congress is the only political party in India, which has experience of running the state government of every Indian states in post-independence Indian history. From the first general election in 1952 when Jawaharlal Nehru led it to a landslide victory, the Congress won in the majority of the following state elections and paved the way for a Nehruvian era of single-party dominance. The party during the post-independence era has governed most of the States and union territories of India.[342] As of October 2024, the INC is in power in the states of Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, and Karnataka. In Jharkhand, it shares power as a junior ally with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.[343] In Tamil Nadu its a junior ally of the DMK, CPI, CPI(M), VCK under the coalition Secular Progressive Alliance or SPA and in Jammu and Kashmir is shares power as a junior ally with JKNC. The Congress has previously been the sole party in power in Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Haryana, Uttarakhand and in the Union Territory of Puducherry. Congress has enjoyed overwhelming electoral majority for over decades in Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Kerala, Maharashtra and Punjab. It has a regional political alliance in Bihar it is named as Mahagathbandhan, in Tamil Nadu it is the Secular Progressive Alliance, and in Kerala, it is the United Democratic Front.[344][345]
| State | Govt Since | Chief Minister | Alliances | Seats in Assembly | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Photo | Party | Seats | ||||||
| INC Government | |||||||||
| Himachal Pradesh | 8 December 2022 | Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu | 
|
INC | 40[346] | - | 40 / 68
| ||
| Karnataka | 14 May 2023 | Siddaramaiah | 
|
INC | 138 | SKP (1) | 140 / 224
| ||
| IND(1) | |||||||||
| Telangana | 7 December 2023 | Revanth Reddy | 
|
INC | 75 | CPI (1) | 76 / 119
| ||
| Alliance Government | |||||||||
| Jammu and Kashmir | 16 October 2024 | Omar Abdullah | .jpg)
|
JKNC | 42 | INC(6) | 56 / 95
| ||
| CPI(M) (1) | |||||||||
| AAP (1) | |||||||||
| IND (6) | |||||||||
| Jharkhand | 28 November 2024 | Hemant Soren | 
|
JMM | 34 | INC(16) | 56 / 81
| ||
| RJD (4) | |||||||||
| CPI(ML)L (2) | |||||||||
| Tamil Nadu | 7 May 2021 | M. K. Stalin | 
|
DMK | 133 | INC(18) | 159 / 234
| ||
| VCK (4) | |||||||||
| CPI (2) | |||||||||
| CPI(M) (2) | |||||||||
Legislative Assembly
Legislative Council
| State/UT | Overall Tally | Legislative Leader | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council | No Representation | Others | |
| Bihar Legislative Council | 2 / 75
|
Akhilesh Prasad Singh | Opposition |
| Karnataka Legislative Council | 35 / 75
|
N. S. Boseraju | Government |
| Maharashtra Legislative Council | 7 / 51
|
Bhai Jagtap | Opposition |
| Telangana Legislative Council | 14 / 40
|
Bomma Mahesh Kumar Goud | Government |
| Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council | No Representation | Others | |
Legislative leaders
List of prime ministers
The Congress has governed a majority of the period of independence in India (for 55 years), whereby Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Manmohan Singh are the country's longest-serving prime ministers. The first general election the Congress contested after the Indian independence was in 1951–52 general elections, in which it won 364 of the 489 seats and 45 per cent of the total votes.[351] The Indian National Congress became the largest party in the Lok Sabha for next four consecutive general elections viz. 2nd Lok Sabha, 3rd Lok Sabha, 4th Lok Sabha, and 5th Lok Sabha.
Gulzarilal Nanda took office in 1966 following the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri for 13 days as the acting Prime Minister of India.[352] His earlier 13-day stint as the second Prime Minister of India followed the death of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964. Indira Gandhi, also the first and so far the only woman Prime Minister of India, served the second-longest term as a prime minister.[353] Rajiv Gandhi served from 1984 to 1989. He took office on the day of the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984 after the Sikh riots and at age 40 was the youngest PM of India. Known for economic reforms that were brought under his tenure, PV Narasimha Rao served as the 10th prime minister of India. He was also the first PM to come from southern India.[354] The Congress party and its allies achieved a majority in the Lok Sabha in 2004 and 2009 general elections. Manmohan Singh served two complete terms as the Prime Minister and headed United Progressive Alliance (UPA) governments two times. Though party suffered a heavy defeat in general elections held in 2014 and 2019. As of January 2024, there are 30 members of the party in Rajya Sabha (upper house of the parliament).[28]
| No. | Prime ministers | Portrait | Term in office[355] | Lok Sabha | Constituency | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | Tenure | |||||
| 1 | Jawaharlal Nehru | 
|
15 August 1947 | 27 May 1964 | 16 years, 286 days | Constituent Assembly | |
| 1st | Phulpur | ||||||
| 2nd | |||||||
| 3rd | |||||||
| Acting | Gulzarilal Nanda | 
|
27 May 1964 | 11 January 1966 | 13 days | Sabarkantha | |
| 2 | Lal Bahadur Shastri | .jpg)
|
1 year, 216 days | Allahabad | |||
| Acting | Gulzarilal Nanda |
|
11 January 1966 | 24 January 1966 | 13 days | Sabarkantha | |
| 3 | Indira Gandhi | 
|
24 January 1966 | 24 March 1977 | 15 years, 350 days | Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh | |
| 4th | Rae Bareli | ||||||
| 5th | |||||||
| 14 January 1980 | 31 October 1984 | 7th | Medak | ||||
| 4 | Rajiv Gandhi | 
|
31 October 1984 | 2 December 1989 | 5 years, 32 days | Amethi | |
| 8th | |||||||
| 5 | P. V. Narasimha Rao | .jpg)
|
21 June 1991 | 16 May 1996 | 4 years, 330 days | 10th | Nandyal |
| 6 | Manmohan Singh | 
|
22 May 2004 | 26 May 2014 | 10 years, 4 days | 14th | Rajya Sabha MP from Assam |
| 15th | |||||||
List of deputy prime ministers
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term in office | Lok Sabha (Election) |
Constituency (House) |
Prime Minister | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assumed office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||
| 1 | .jpg)
|
Vallabhbhai Patel (1875–1950) |
15 August 1947 | 15 December 1950 (death) | 3 years, 122 days | Constituent Assembly | N/A | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| 2 | 
|
Morarji Desai (1896–1995) |
13 March 1967 | 19 July 1969 | 2 years, 128 days | 4th (1967) |
Surat (Lok Sabha) |
Indira Gandhi |
See also
- All India Congress Committee
- Congress Working Committee
- Electoral history of the Indian National Congress
- High command culture
- Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance
- List of chief ministers from the Indian National Congress
- List of Indian National Congress breakaway parties
- List of political parties in India
- List of presidents of the Indian National Congress
- List of state presidents of the Indian National Congress
- Nehru–Gandhi family
- Politics of India
- Pradesh Congress Committee
- United Progressive Alliance
References
Notes
- ^ The Indian national colours of the Indian flag serve as the official visual identification of the Indian National Congress.
- ^ Sky blue is used as customary color
- ^ "The first modern nationalist movement to arise in the non-European empire, and one that became an inspiration for many others, was the Indian Congress."[30]
- ^ "South Asian parties include several of the oldest in the post-colonial world, foremost among them the 129-year-old Indian National Congress that led India to independence in 1947"[32]
- ^ "The organization that led India to independence, the Indian National Congress, was established in 1885."[33]
- ^ "... anti-colonial movements ... which, like many other nationalist movements elsewhere in the empire, were strongly influenced by the Indian National Congress."[30]
- ^ Two more Congress members also fought as independent outside the alliance and supported Congress after elected as MP, taking the tally to 101. Later, one independent MP supported Congress, taking the tally to 102. Later Rahul Gandhi vacated Wayanad, one of the two seats won by him and Priyanka Gandhi won as the Congress candidate for bypoll, taking the tally to 101.[36][37]
- ^ The "R" stood for Requisition or Ruling
- ^ The "O" stands for organisation/Old Congress.
Citations
- ^ a b "Mallikarjun Kharge wins Congress Presidential elections, set to become first non-Gandhi head of party in 24 years". The Economic Times. 3 June 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ^ a b Phukan, Sandeep (19 October 2022). "Mallikarjun Kharge wins Congress presidential election with over 7,800 votes". The Hindu.
- ^ "Smt Sonia Gandhi re-elected as chairperson of Congress parliamentary party". inc.in. 25 June 2024.
- ^
- Kanishka Singh (5 December 2017). "Indian National Congress: From 1885 till 2017, a brief history of past presidents". The Indian Express. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
- Praveen Davar (30 June 2021). "Sagely leader: Dadabhai Naoroji". The Telegraph. India. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
- "AO Hume, 'Father' of Indian National Congress who was distrusted by the British & Indians". Deeksha Bhardwaj. ThePrint. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
- Sinha, Arunav (28 December 2015). "Cong founder was district collector of Etawah". The Times of India. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
- Sir William Wedderburn (2002). Allan Octavian Hume: Father of the Indian National Congress, 1829–1912 : a Biography. Oxford University Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-19-565287-1.
- Kanta Kataria (2013). "A.o. Hume: His Life and Contribution to the Regeneration of India". The Indian Journal of Political Science. 74 (2): 245–252. JSTOR 24701107.
- ^ "Rent relief unlikely for Congress's Delhi properties". The Times of India. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ "Kisan and Khet Mazdoor Congress sets 10-day deadline for Centre to concede demands". The Hindu. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
- ^ "Southern states ahead in Congress membership drive, Telangana unit leads". ThePrint. 28 March 2022.
- ^ "Congress' Digital Membership Drive Gains Focus With Boost in Participation, South Contributes Significantly". ABP News. 27 March 2022.
- ^ a b c d Lowell Barrington (2009). Comparative Politics: Structures and Choices. Cengage Learning. p. 379. ISBN 978-0-618-49319-7.
- ^ Meyer, Karl Ernest; Brysac, Shareen Blair (2012). Pax Ethnica: Where and How Diversity Succeeds. PublicAffairs. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-61039-048-4. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- ^ [9][10]
- ^ Emiliano Bosio; Yusef Waghid, eds. (31 October 2022). Global Citizenship Education in the Global South: Educators' Perceptions and Practices. Brill. p. 270. ISBN 9789004521742.
- ^ DeSouza, Peter Ronald (2006). India's Political Parties Readings in Indian Government and Politics series. Sage Publishing. p. 420. ISBN 978-9-352-80534-1.
- ^ Rosow, Stephen J.; George, Jim (2014). Globalization and Democracy. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 91–96. ISBN 978-1-442-21810-9.
- ^ [12][13][14]
- ^ Agrawal, S. P.; Aggarwal, J. C., eds. (1989). Nehru on Social Issues. New Delhi: Concept Publishing. ISBN 978-817022207-1.
- ^ [9][16]
- ^ a b Soper, J. Christopher; Fetzer, Joel S. (2018). Religion and Nationalism in Global Perspective. Cambridge University Press. pp. 200–210. ISBN 978-1-107-18943-0.
- ^ a b "Political Parties – NCERT" (PDF). National Council of Educational Research and Training. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- ^ Jean-Pierre Cabestan, Jacques deLisle, ed. (2013). Inside India Today (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-04823-5.
... were either guarded in their criticism of the ruling party – the centrist Indian National Congress – or attacked it almost invariably from a rightist position. This was so for political and commercial reasons, which are explained, ...
- ^ [9][19][20]
- ^ "Progressive Alliance Participants". Progressive Alliance. Archived from the original on 2 March 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
- ^ "Full Member Parties of Socialist International". Socialist International.
- ^ Gabriel Sheffer (1993). Innovative Leaders in International Politics. SUNY Press. p. 202. ISBN 978-0-7914-1520-7. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
- ^ "Meeting of the SI Council at the United Nations in Geneva". Socialist International.
- ^ "List of Political Parties and Election Symbols main Notification Dated 18.01.2013" (PDF). India: Election Commission of India. 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
- ^ "Digital Sansad".
- ^ a b "Party Position in the Rajya Sabha" (PDF). Rajya Sabha. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
- ^ "Digital Sansad".
- ^ a b c d Marshall, P. J. (2001), The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire, Cambridge University Press, p. 179, ISBN 978-0-521-00254-7
- ^ "Information about the Indian National Congress". open.ac.uk. Arts & Humanities Research council. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
- ^ a b Chiriyankandath, James (2016), Parties and Political Change in South Asia, Routledge, p. 2, ISBN 978-1-317-58620-3
- ^ a b Kopstein, Jeffrey; Lichbach, Mark; Hanson, Stephen E. (2014), Comparative Politics: Interests, Identities, and Institutions in a Changing Global Order, Cambridge University Press, p. 344, ISBN 978-1-139-99138-4
- ^ a b Saez, Lawrence; Sinha, Aseema (2010). "Political cycles, political institutions and public expenditure in India, 1980–2000". British Journal of Political Science. 40 (1): 91–113. doi:10.1017/s0007123409990226. ISSN 0007-1234. S2CID 154767259.
- ^ "Indian National Congress". Indian National Congress. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
- ^ Joy, Shemin. "Lok Sabha Elections 2024: With support of 3 Independent MPs, I.N.D.I.A now has 237 seats". Deccan Herald.
- ^ Roushan, Anurag (9 July 2024). "Rahul Gandhi to visit Rae Bareli today to thank people of constituency for his Lok Sabha election victory". India TV News.
- ^ a b Gehlot, N.S. (1991). The Congress Party in India: Policies, Culture, Performance. Deep & Deep Publications. p. 35. ISBN 978-81-7100-306-8.
The activities of Mr. A.O. Hume were pro – Indian and full of patriotic spirit for the youths.
- ^ Sitaramayya, B. Pattabhi. 1935. The History of the Indian National Congress. Working Committee of the Congress. Scanned version
- ^ "Full text of 'The History of the Indian National Congress'". The Working Committee of the Congress Madras. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ Pattabhi Sita Ramaiah (1 November 2018). "The History of the Indian National Congress (1885–1935)" – via Internet Archive.
- ^ The Nehrus: Motilal and Jawaharlal: With a New Preface. Oxford Academic. p. 45. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
- ^ a b "Indian National Movement with Special Reference to Surendranath Banerjea and Lajpat Rai" (PDF). Retrieved 29 November 2024.
- ^ Singh, Kanishka (5 December 2017). "Indian National Congress: From 1885 till 2017, a brief history of past presidents". The Indian Express. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ "Sonia sings Vande Mataram at Congress function – Rediff.com India News". Rediff.com. 28 December 2006. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ Sitaramayya, B. Pattabhi (1935). The history of the Indian National Congress (1885–1935). Working Committee of the Congress. pp. 12–27.
- ^ a b Walsh, Judith E. (2006). A Brief History of India. Infobase Publishing. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-4381-0825-4.
- ^ Moore, R. J. (1969). "Daniel Argov: Moderates and extremists in the Indian nationalist movement,1883–1920, with special reference to Surendranath Banerjea and Lajpat Raj. xix, 246 pp., 2 Plates. london: Asia Publishing House, [1968]. 45s". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 32 (1). Cambridge University Press (CUP): 230. doi:10.1017/s0041977x00094507. ISSN 0041-977X.
- ^ "Four Chapter Four Indian National Congress". Retrieved 29 November 2024.
- ^ "Indian National Congress". The Open University. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ Richard Sisson; Stanley A. Wolpert (1988). Congress and Indian Nationalism: The Pre-independence Phase. University of California Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-520-06041-8.
Those fewer than 100 English-educated gentlemen of means and property, mostly lawyers and journalists, could hardly claim to 'represent' some 250 million illiterate impoverished peasants
- ^ Richard Sisson; Stanley A. Wolpert (1988). Congress and Indian Nationalism: The Pre-independence Phase. University of California Press. pp. 22–23. ISBN 978-0-520-06041-8.
Without any funds or any secretariat, however (other than Hume) Congress remained, during its first decade at least, more of a sounding board for elite Indian aspirations than a political party.
- ^ a b c "MODERATES, EXTREMISTS AND REVOLUTIONARIES" (PDF). eGyanKosh, IGNOU. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
- ^ "The Making of the National Movement: 1870s–1947" (PDF). National Council of Educational Research and Training. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
- ^ Shankar, Prabha Ravi (2004). "BRITISH COMMITTEE OF THE INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS — A CRITICAL APPRAISAL". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 65. Indian History Congress: 761–767. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44144789. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
- ^ "Uncivil liberalism: labour, capital and commercial society in Dadabhai Naoroji's political thought". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
- ^ VISANA, VIKRAM (12 January 2016). "Vernacular Liberalism, Capitalism, and Anti-Imperialism in the Political Thought of Dadabhai Naoroji". The Historical Journal. 59 (3). Cambridge University Press (CUP): 775–797. doi:10.1017/s0018246x15000230. ISSN 0018-246X.
- ^ "Moderates, Extremists and Revolutionaries" (PDF). Indira Gandhi National Open University. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
- ^ Stanley A. Wolpert, Tilak and Gokhale: Revolution and Reform in the Making of Modern India (1962) p 67
- ^ "Surat Split, 1907 – History, Causes, Aftermath & Impact" (PDF). eGyanKosh, IGNOU. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
- ^ a b "Annie Besant". BBC. 30 October 2006. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
- ^ a b "Establishment of Tilak's Home Rule League". Retrieved 27 November 2024.
- ^ Field, J.F. (2019). Great Speeches in Minutes. Quercus. p. 190. ISBN 978-1-78747-722-3. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
- ^ "Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi". South African History Online. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
- ^ Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand (1 February 1931). My experiments with truth. Ahmedabad: Sarvodaya.
- ^ Sarkar, Sumit (2014). Modern India 1886–1947. Pearson Education India. ISBN 9789332540859.
- ^ Patel, Sujata (1984). "Class Conflict and Workers' Movement in Ahmedabad Textile Industry, 1918–23". Economic and Political Weekly. 19 (20/21): 853–864. JSTOR 4373280. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
- ^ a b Mahatma Gandhi (1994). The Gandhi Reader: A Sourcebook of His Life and Writings. Grove Press. p. 254. ISBN 978-0-8021-3161-4.
- ^ Carl Olson (2007). The Many Colors of Hinduism: A Thematic-historical Introduction. Rutgers University Press. p. 29. ISBN 9780813540689.
- ^ Gail Minault, The Khilafat movement p 69
- ^ "Gopal Krishna Gokhale: The liberal nationalist regarded by Gandhi as his political guru". 13 May 2021.
- ^ "Indian National Congress: From 1885 till 2017, a brief history of past presidents". 5 December 2017.
- ^ Mittal, S. K.; Habib, Irfan (1982). "The Congress and the Revolutionaries in the 1920s". Social Scientist. 10 (6): 20–37. doi:10.2307/3517065. JSTOR 3517065.
- ^ Iodice, Emilio (2017). "The Courage to Lead of Gandhi". The Journal of Values-Based Leadership. 10 (2). doi:10.22543/0733.102.1192.
- ^ "Gandhiji – an inspiration". The Hindu. 1 October 2012.
- ^ Chandra, A.M. (2008). India Condensed: 5,000 Years of History & Culture. Marshall Cavendish Corporation. p. 66. ISBN 978-981-261-975-4.
- ^ "Declaration of Purna Swaraj (Indian National Congress, 1930) Clipboard". CAD India. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
- ^ "Main Bharat Hun". Main Bharat Hun. Archived from the original on 21 July 2010. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b Rohit Manglik (21 May 2020). SSC Sub Inspector CPO (Tier I and II) 2020. EduGorilla. p. 639. GGKEY:AWW79B82A9H.
- ^ S. M. Ikram (1995). Indian Muslims and Partition of India. Atlantic Publishers. p. 240. ISBN 9788171563746.
- ^ SN Sen (2006). History Modern India. New Age International. p. 202. ISBN 9788122417746.
- ^ "Subhas Chandra Bose |". Open.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
Dates of time spent in Britain: 1919–21
- ^ Green, J.; Della-Rovere, C. (2014). Gandhi and the Quit India Movement. Days of Decision. Pearson Education Limited. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-4062-6156-1.
- ^ Marques, J. (2020). The Routledge Companion to Inclusive Leadership. Routledge Companions in Business, Management and Marketing. Taylor & Francis. p. 403. ISBN 978-1-000-03965-8.
- ^ a b Anderson, D.; Killingray, D. (1992). Policing and Decolonisation: Politics, Nationalism, and the Police, 1917–65. Studies in imperialism. Manchester University Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-7190-3033-8.
Britain's hold over India weakened and an early resumption of Congress rule appeared inevitable
- ^ Arthur Herman (2008). Gandhi & Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age. Random House. pp. 467–70. ISBN 978-0-553-90504-5. Archived from the original on 13 September 2014.
- ^ Studlar, D.T. (2018). Great Britain: Decline Or Renewal?. Taylor & Francis. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-429-96865-5.
The Labour Party promised independence for India in its campaign in the general election of 1945.
- ^ Ram, J. (1997). V.K. Krishna Menon: A Personal Memoir. Oxford University Press. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-19-564228-5.
Labour Party had promised freedom for India if they came to power
- ^ Naveen Sharma (1990). Right to Property in India. Deep & Deep Publications. p. 36.
- ^ "Lawyers in the Indian Freedom Movement – The Bar Council of India". Barcouncilofindia.org. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
- ^ Moreman, Tim (2013). The Jungle, Japanese and the British Commonwealth Armies at War, 1941–45: Fighting Methods, Doctrine and Training for Jungle Warfare. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-76456-2.
- ^ Marston, Daniel (2014). The Indian Army and the End of the Raj. Cambridge Studies in Indian History and Society, 23. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-89975-8.
- ^ "New year aspirations – Can India hope for a centrist progressive liberal party?". The Times of India. 28 December 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ "Why India's opposition is nearly irrelevant". The Economist. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
- ^ George McTurnan Kahin, Harold C. Hinton (1958). Major governments of Asia. Cornell University Press. p. 439.
- ^ Moshe Y. Sachs (1967). Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations: Asia and Australasia. Worldmark Press.
- ^ Richard Sisson, Leo E. Rose (1991). War and Secession: Pakistan, India and the Creation of Bangladesh. University of California Press. pp. 1–15. ISBN 978-0-520-07665-5.
- ^ a b Suranjan Das (2001). "Nehru Years in Indian Politics" (PDF). School of Social and Political Science, Edinburgh. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ a b "Economic Ideology of Jawaharlal Nehru" (PDF). Economic and Political Weekly. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "History of Indian Economy Part II". Daily News and Analysis. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Nehru: Founding member of The non-aligned movement". BBC News. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "History and Evolution of Non-Aligned Movement". mea.gov.in. Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ a b c Nayantara Sahgal (1 January 2010). Jawaharlal Nehru: Civilizing a Savage World. Penguin Books India. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-670-08357-2.
- ^ Nayantara Sahgal (1 January 2010). Jawaharlal Nehru: Civilizing a Savage World. Penguin Books India. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-670-08357-2.
- ^ Nayantara Sahgal (1 January 2010). Jawaharlal Nehru: Civilizing a Savage World. Penguin Books India. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-670-08357-2.
- ^ "K. Kamaraj – Life History". perunthalaivar.org. The Perun Thalaivar organization. Archived from the original on 5 July 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "The Syndicate: Kingmakers of India". pib.nic.in. Press Information Bureau: Government of India. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ Mahendra Prasad Singh 1981, p. 46.
- ^ Bala Jeyaraman (2 September 2013). Kamaraj: The Life and Times of K. Kamaraj. Rupa Publications. pp. 55–56. ISBN 978-81-291-3227-7.
- ^ N. S. Gehlot (1991). The Congress Party in India: Policies, Culture, Performance. Deep & Deep Publications. p. 180. ISBN 978-81-7100-306-8.
- ^ "The death of Nehru". The Guardian archive. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964)". BBC. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "1964: Light goes out in India as Nehru dies". BBC News. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Shri Gulzari Lal Nanda". PMO India. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
- ^ Mahendra Prasad Singh 1981, p. 42.
- ^ R. D. Pradhan; Madhav Godbole (1 January 1999). Debacle to Revival: Y. B. Chavan as Defence Minister, 1962–65. Orient Blackswan. p. 17. ISBN 978-81-250-1477-5.
- ^ Arvind Panagariya Professor of Economics and Jagdish Bhagwati Professor of Indian Political Economy Columbia University School of International & Public Affairs (1 February 2008). India: The Emerging Giant: The Emerging Giant. Oxford University Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-19-804299-0.
- ^ "History and Politics of India". socialsciences.ucla.edu. UCLA Division of Social Sciences. Archived from the original on 12 November 1999. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Biography of Gulzarilal Nanda". pmindia.gov.in. Prime Minister's Office. Archived from the original on 28 August 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ Narayan Agrawal Narayan; Lal Bahadur Shastri; Vivek Misra; Subha Ravi (2006). Lal Bahadur Shastri, Churn of Conscience. Eternal Gandhi. p. 88. ISBN 978-81-231-0193-4.
- ^ "The White Revolution: A beginning". unicef.org. UNICEF. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ Jyotirindra Dasgupta (1970). Language Conflict and National Development: Group Politics and National Language Policy in India. University of California Press. p. 237. ISBN 978-0-520-01590-6.
- ^ Forrester, Duncan B. (1966). "The Madras anti-Hindi agitation". Pacific Affairs. 39 (1/2). Digital library of academic journals: 19–36. doi:10.2307/2755179. JSTOR 2755179.
- ^ "The Indo-Pakistan war of 1965". indiannavy.nic.in. Indian Navy. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Life of Lal Bahadur Shastri". Business Standard. India. 26 March 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Controversial death of Shastri". wikileaks-forum.com. Wikileaks Forum. Archived from the original on 1 May 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Lal Bahadur Shastri's death in Tashkent". BBC. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Lal Bahadur Shastri". socialsciences.ucla.edu/. UCLA Division of Social Science. Archived from the original on 22 April 2000. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ Austin, Granville (1999). Working a Democratic Constitution: The Indian Experience. Oxford University Press. p. 178. ISBN 0195648889.
- ^ Sharma, Unnati (10 August 2022). "V.V. Giri – how election of first 'independent president' changed Congress & India's politics". ThePrint. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ Mahendra Prasad Singh 1981, pp. 65–80.
- ^ Hardgrave, R. L., 1970. "The Congress in India: Crisis and Split". Asian Survey, 10(3), pp. 256–262.
- ^ "1969: S. Nijalingappa expelled Indira Gandhi from the Party". India Today. Aroon Purie. 2 July 2007. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ a b c Sanghvi, Vijay (2006). The Congress, Indira to Sonia Gandh. New Delhi: Kalpaz Publications. p. 77. ISBN 978-81-7835-340-1.
- ^ Sanghvi, Vijay (21 March 2006). The Congress, Indira to Sonia Gandhi. Gyan Publishing House. ISBN 9788178353401.
- ^ a b Rosser, J. Barkley; Rosser, Marina V. (2004). Comparative Economics in Transforming the World Economy. MIT Press. pp. 468–470. ISBN 978-0-262-18234-8.
- ^ Menon, Vandana (16 November 2017). "'We simply don't have time': Read Indira Gandhi's letters defending bank nationalisation". ThePrint. Printline Media Pvt. Ltd. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
- ^ "General Elections, India, 1971: Statistical report" (PDF). eci.nic.in. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ "Economic Milestone: Nationalisation of Banks (1969)". Forbes India. 17 September 2015. Archived from the original on 29 October 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- ^ a b "The Defining Event" (PDF). Reserve Bank of India. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
- ^ Banking Awareness. Arihant Publications (India) Ltd. 2017. p. 20. ISBN 978-93-11124-66-7.
- ^ "The Emergency, and Indian democracy". sscnet.ucla.edu. UCLA Division of Social Science. Archived from the original on 12 November 1999. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ "Emergency papers found". The Times of India. 30 June 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
- ^ Ghildiyal, Subodh (29 December 2010). "Cong blames Sanjay Gandhi for Emergency 'excesses'". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 28 August 2011. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
- ^ "Emergency 'propagandist' who banned Kishore Kumar songs". The Indian Express. 11 June 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
- ^ Dasgupta, Swapan (July 1985). "The Life of Indira Gandhi". Book Reviews. Third World Quarterly. 7 (3): 731–778. doi:10.1080/01436598508419863.
- ^ Inder Malhotra (23 June 2010). "What Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's Emergency proved for India". Rediff.com. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ "Indian general election, 1977" (PDF). ipu.org. Inter-Parliamentary Union. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ "On 1 and 2 January dissidents led by Indira Gandhi staged convention of what they claimed was "the real Congress." Mrs. Gandhi was elected President of the body, which promptly laid claim to the offices, funds and even the electoral symbol of the Indian National Congress. These claims were, unsurprisingly, resisted by Y.B. Chavan and his group, who had controlled Congress since the I977 election. Initial reports varied but it seemed that no more than a third of the State Congress Committees sided with the Indira Gandhi faction." Mendelsohn, Oliver (1978). "The Collapse of the Indian National Congress". Pacific Affairs. 58 (1): 65. doi:10.2307/2757008. JSTOR 2757008.
- ^ a b Basu, Manisha (2016). The Rhetoric of Hindutva. Cambridge University Press. pp. 73–. ISBN 978-1-107-14987-8.
- ^ a b c "Statistical report general elections, 1980" (PDF). eci.nic.in. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ "Operation Blue Star 1984". Daily News and Analysis. Deepak Rathi. Dainik Bhaskar. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ a b "1984: Operation Blue Star". The Daily Telegraph. London. 6 June 2014. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ "Operation Blue Star". The Hindu. 10 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ "1984: Indian prime minister shot dead". BBC News. 31 October 1984. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Violence follows Gandhi killing". BBC News. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ Joseph, Paul (11 October 2016). The Sage Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives. Sage. p. 433. ISBN 978-1483359885.
around 17,000 Sikhs were burned alive or killed
- ^ Nelson, Dean (30 January 2014). "Delhi to reopen inquiry in to massacre of Sikhs in 1984 riots". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
- ^ "Jagdish Tytler's role in 1984 anti-Sikh riots to be re-investigated". NDTV. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
- ^ "Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, complete profile". pmindia.gov.in. Prime Minister's Office. Archived from the original on 1 September 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "India General or the 8th Lok Sabha Election Results – 1984". Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Resurgent India". Daily News and Analysis. 22 January 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Rajiv Gandhi and the story of Indian modernization". Mint. 19 May 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Rajiv Gandhi, History and Politics". UCLA, Division of Social Sciences. Archived from the original on 26 February 2000. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Rajiv Gandhi cleared over bribery". BBC News. 4 February 2004. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
- ^ "The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi". NDTV India. 10 July 2013. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2014 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Rajiv Gandhi assassination case". The Times of India. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ^ D. R. Kaarthikenyan, Radhavinod Raju; Radhavinod Raju (2008). Rajiv Gandhi Assassination. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. pp. 89–91. ISBN 978-81-207-3265-0.
- ^ "SC refers Rajiv Gandhi killers' release case to Constitution Bench". The Indian Express. 25 April 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ^ "PV Narasimha Rao Biography". Website of the Prime Minister of India. Archived from the original on 27 December 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ Lakshman, Ganesh (22 August 2017). "Nandyal bypoll: It was P V Narasimha Rao's backyard when he ." The Times of India. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
- ^ "Narasimha Rao – a Reforming PM". BBC News (23 December 2004). Retrieved 2 March 2007.
- ^ a b Arvind Kumar, Arun Narendhranath (3 October 2001). "India must embrace unfettered free enterprise" Archived 12 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Daily News and Analysis.
- ^ "PV Narasimha Rao reinvented India". The National. Abu Dhabi. 19 May 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Foreign Policies of India's Prime Ministers" (PDF). Transnational Organization. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "PV Narasimha Rao Remembered as Father of Indian Economic Reforms". VOA News (23 December 2004). Archived 29 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b "Narasimha Rao led India at crucial juncture, was father of economic reform: Pranab". The Times of India. 31 December 2012. Archived from the original on 20 May 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
- ^ V. Venkatesan (1–14 January 2005). "Obituary: A scholar and a politician". Frontline. 22 (1). Retrieved 30 March 2010.[dead link]
- ^ "PV Narasimha Rao Passes Away". Retrieved 7 October 2007. Archived 1 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ABP News (December 2013). "Atal Bihari Vajpayee's 13-day govt". Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2014 – via YouTube.
- ^ "The Sitaram Kesri case". Daily News and Analysis. 10 July 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ Subrata Kumar Mitra; Mike Enskat; Clemens Spiess (2004). Political Parties in South Asia. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 42–43. ISBN 978-0-275-96832-8.
- ^ "India Parliamentary Chamber: Lok Sabha". Inter-Parliamentary Union. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
- ^ Cooper, Kenneth J. (31 January 1998). "Another Gandhi Comes to Congress Party's Aid". The Washington Post.
- ^ Rahman, M. (31 January 1995). "Sonia Gandhi emerges as cynosure of all eyes, could play pivotal role in party politics". India Today.
- ^ Dugger, Celia W. (21 May 1999). "Congress Party Expels 3 Who Opposed Gandhi". The New York Times.
- ^ a b Negi, Saroj (16 December 2017). "Sonia Gandhi's Legacy: She Reinvented Herself to Fight Off Challenges but also Had Her Share of Failures". India Today. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
- ^ Naqshbandi, Aurangzeb (4 March 2018). "Sonia Gandhi's 19 years as Congress president: From husband death to son Rahul's elevation". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
- ^ "The mathematics of politics". Rediff.com. 16 May 2004. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
- ^ "Sonia Gandhi retires as Congress president, to remain active in politics". The Indian Express. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
- ^ Chowdhary, Neerja (16 December 2017). "As Sonia Gandhi makes way". The Indian Express. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ a b Naqshbandi, Aurangzeb (16 December 2017). "Sonia Gandhi's 19 years as Congress president: From husband Rajiv's death to son Rahul's elevation". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
- ^ Chandra, Rina (14 April 2009). "Sonia Gandhi keeps Congress hopes alive in India polls". Reuters. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ Mathew, Liz (30 March 2010). "Hands-on influence for Sonia Gandhi as NAC head". Mint. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
- ^ "Manmohan survives trust vote". India Today. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
- ^ Bidwai, Praful. "Reading the Verdict". Frontline. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
- ^ "Difficult to stop terror attacks all the time, says Rahul Gandhi". 14 July 2011. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
- ^ "2G spectrum scam". India Today. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
- ^ "Coal Block Allocations Scam". Daily News and Analysis. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
- ^ "List of Congress winners". CNN-IBN. 17 May 2014. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
- ^ "Congress Vote Share Dips Below 20 Per Cent for First Time". NDTV India. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
- ^ "Rahul Gandhi has resigned. For real. What next?". India Today. Ist. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- ^ "CWC chooses Sonia Gandhi as interim chief of Congress". The Economic Times. 11 August 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
- ^ "Rahul had said 'no Gandhi', but Congress goes back to Sonia Gandhi". The Times of India. 11 August 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^ "Chowdhury to stay as leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha". The Pioneer. India. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
- ^ "Congress appoints Gaurav Gogoi as deputy leader in Lok Sabha, Ravneet Bittu as whip". ThePrint. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
- ^ a b Joy, Shemin (23 February 2021). "Congress has lost six governments to BJP since PM Narendra Modi assumed power in 2014". Deccan Herald. The Printers, Mysore. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
- ^ "Election for Congress president to be held on October 17, counting on October 19". Hindustan Times. 28 August 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
- ^ "Congress president polls | It's Mallikarjun Kharge vs Shashi Tharoor as Tripathi's nomination is rejected". The Hindu. Press Trust of India. 1 October 2022. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- ^ Aggarwal, Raghav (4 June 2024). "INDIA bloc's combined strength plays spoilsport for BJP in 2 biggest states". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
- ^ Aggarwai, Mithil; Frayer, Janis Mackey (4 June 2024). "India hands PM Modi a surprise setback, with his majority in doubt in the world's largest election". NBC News. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
- ^ "Congress led by Jawaharlal Nehru won the first general election in 1952". India Today. 2 July 2007. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
- ^ a b Ganguly, Siddharth (2 February 2022). "The Parties That Contested India's First General Election". The Wire. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
- ^ Gupta, Abhinav (24 May 2019). "Lok Sabha Poll Results: A vote-share and performance analysis of BJP vs Congress from 1996 to 2019". News Nation. News Nation Network Pvt Ltd. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
- ^ "Chronology of Lok Sabha elections (1952–1999)". The Hindustan Times. 13 October 2003. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
- ^ "Statistical Report on General Elections, 1989 to the Ninth Lok Sabha" (PDF). Retrieved 20 March 2024.
- ^ a b Chakravarty, Shubhodeep (18 May 2019). "INKredible India: The story of 2004 Lok Sabha election – All you need to know". Zee News. Essel Group. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
- ^ "Elections in India The New Delhi Assembly, Congress Party's Position", The Times, 10 December 1934, p15, Issue 46933
- ^ "Schwartzberg Atlas – Digital South Asia Library". dsal.uchicago.edu.
- ^ "Statistical Report on Lok Sabha Elections 1951–52" (PDF). Election Commission of India.
- ^ "Statistical Report on General Election, 1957 : To the Second Lok Sabha Volume-I" (PDF). Election Commission of India. p. 5. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
- ^ "Statistical Report On General Elections, 1962 To The Third Lok Sabha" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
- ^ "General Election of India 1967, 4th Lok Sabha" (PDF). Election Commission of India. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
- ^ "General Election of India 1971, 5th Lok Sabha" (PDF). Election Commission of India. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
- ^ "General Election of India 1977, 6th Lok Sabha" (PDF). Election Commission of India. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
- ^ "Statistical Report on General Elections, 1984, to the Eighth Lok Sabha – Volume 1 (National and State Abstracts & Detailed Results)". Election Commission of India. 1985. Archived from the original on 31 October 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
- ^ Indian Parliamentary Democracy. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. 2003. p. 124. ISBN 978-81-269-0193-7.
- ^ "1991 India General (10th Lok Sabha) Elections Results". elections.in. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
- ^ Vohra, Ranbir (2001). The Making of India. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe. pp. 282–284. ISBN 978-0-7656-0712-6.
- ^ "WORTHLESS!". General Elections '98 – India. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original on 10 April 2009.
- ^ "General (12th Lok Sabha) Election Results India". Retrieved 12 February 2023.
- ^ "WORTHLESS!". General Elections '99 – India. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original on 10 April 2009.
- ^ "General (13th Lok Sabha) Election Results India". Retrieved 12 February 2023.
- ^ "Party wise Summary". General Elections 2004. Election Commission of India. 30 August 2005. Archived from the original on 27 July 2018.
- ^ "Second UPA win, a crowning glory for Sonia's ascendancy". Business Standard. India. 16 May 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
- ^ "Final Results 2014 General Elections". Press Information Bureau, Government of India. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014.
- ^ "General Election to Loksabha Trend and Result 2014". Election Commission of India. 16 May 2014. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
- ^ "Modi thanks India for 'historic mandate'". 23 May 2019. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
- ^ "How Rahul Gandhi turned the tide in favour of Congress, INDIA bloc alliance". 5 June 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
- ^ N. S. Gehlot (1991). The Congress Party in India: Policies, Culture, Performance. Deep & Deep Publications. pp. 150–200. ISBN 978-81-7100-306-8.
- ^ a b "National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005" (PDF). Ministry of Law and Justice. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
- ^ "Congress will safeguard secularism". The Hindu. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ Kundu, Chayan (26 July 2020). "Fact Check: False claims of Rajiv Gandhi at Ram temple 'bhoomi pujan' go viral". India Today. Living Media Pvt. Ltd. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ Vij, Shivam (19 August 2020). "Reclaiming Indian pluralism will need annihilation of the Congress party". ThePrint. Shekhar Gupta. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "'Rajiv Gandhi opened locks, called for Ram Rajya in 1985': Kamal Nath". Times Now. 6 August 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "Panchayati Raj System in Independent India" (PDF). Department of Rural Development and Panchayats, Punjab. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
- ^ "Governance and Development" (PDF). NITI Aayog. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
- ^ Agrawala, S. K. (1977). "Jawaharlal Nehru and the Language Problem". Journal of the Indian Law Institute. 19 (1): 44–67. JSTOR 43950462. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ Nair, Chitralekha (7 June 2019). "A brief history of anti-Hindi imposition agitations in India". The Week (Indian magazine). Jacob Mathew. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ Madan, Karuna (28 April 2017). "Anti-Hindi agitation: How it all began". Gulf News. Al Nisr Publishing. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ "The Official Languages Act, 1963". Department of Official Language, Government of India. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
- ^ "Complete Text of the Official Languages Act". The University of Ottawa. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
- ^ "A short history of Indian economy 1947–2019: Tryst with destiny & other stories". Mint. 14 August 2019.
- ^ Venkatasubbiah, H. (27 May 2017). "Nehru's economic philosophy". The Hindu.
- ^ "Manmohan Singh credits Jawarharlal Nehru for the 'idea of mixed economy'". The Economic Times.
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, 1989: from Skr. rāj: to reign, rule; cognate with L. rēx, rēg-is, OIr. rī, rīg king (see RICH).
- ^ Street Hawking Promise Jobs in Future Archived 29 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine, The Times of India, 25 November 2001
- ^ "India: the economy". BBC. 1998.
- ^ Kapila, Raj; Kapila, Uma (2004). Understanding India's economic Reforms. Academic Foundation. p. 126. ISBN 978-8171881055.
- ^ Philippe Aghion; Robin Burgess; Stephen J. Redding; Fabrizio Zilibotti (2008). "The Unequal Effects of Liberalization: Evidence from Dismantling the License Raj in India" (PDF). American Economic Review. 98 (4): 1397–1412. doi:10.1257/aer.98.4.1397. S2CID 966634.
- ^ Chakravarti, Sudeep (15 June 1991). "In an India known for thinking small, Rajiv Gandhi generated high-stakes optimism". India Today.
- ^ Ghosh, Arunabha. "India's Pathway through Financial Crisis" (PDF). globaleconomicgovernance.org. Global Economic Governance Programme. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 October 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2007.
- ^ Tiwari, Brajesh Kumar (26 September 2023). "Dr Manmohan Singh: The Architect of India's Economic Reform". ABP News. ABP Group. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
- ^ Chundawat, Keshav Singh (26 September 2023). "Dr Manmohan Singh, the man who opened up Indian economy". CNBC TV18. Network18 Group. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
- ^ Balachandran, G. (28 July 2010). Methodology And Perspectives of Business Studies. Ane Books India. ISBN 9789380156682.
- ^ Staff Writer (27 December 2020). "Narasimha Rao's bold economic reforms helped in India's development: Naidu". Mint.
- ^ "This day the half-lion saved India: When Rao and Manmohan brought economy back from the brink". The Economic Times.
- ^ "Banking on reform". The Indian Express. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- ^ "Farmer Waiver Scheme- PM statement". PIB. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- ^ Mohan, R., 2008. Global financial crisis and key risks: impact on India and Asia. RBI Bulletin, pp.2003–2022.
- ^ Kevin Plumberg; Steven C. Johnson (2 November 2008). "Global inflation climbs to historic levels". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ^ "Economic benefits of golden Quadilateral". Business today. 4 May 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- ^ "Fringe benefit tax abolished". The Hindustan Times. 6 July 2009. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ^ "President Pranab Mukherjee gives nod to four supporting Bills on GST". The Hindu. 13 April 2017. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ^ "Manmohan & Sonia opposed retrospective tax: Pranab Mukherjee". ThePrint. 27 October 2017. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ^ "More Funds for Infrastructure Development, Farmers". Outlook. New Delhi. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
- ^ "Big spender". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
- ^ "Indian Nuclear Program". National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ C. Philip Skardon (19 March 2010). A Lesson for Our Times: How America Kept the Peace in the Hungary-Suez Crisis of 1956. Author House. pp. 695–696. ISBN 978-1-4520-3033-3.
- ^ "The end of the British empire in India". The National Archives. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ George Perkovich (2001). India's Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation. University of California Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-520-23210-5.
- ^ Couper, Frank E. (1969). "Indian Party Conflict on the Issue of Atomic Weapons". The Journal of Developing Areas. 3 (2): 191–206. JSTOR 4189559. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ Tempest, Rone (11 June 1998). "India's Nuclear Tests Jolt Its Relations With China". Los Angeles Times Communications LLC. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ Nair, Arun (18 May 2020). "Smiling Buddha: All You Need To Know About India's First Nuclear Test at Pokhran". NDTV. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ "India's Nuclear Weapons Program Smiling Buddha: 1974". The Nuclear Weapon Archive. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ Chaturvedi, Amit (18 May 2021). "Smiling Buddha: How India successfully conducted first nuclear test in Pokhran". The Hindustan Times. HT Media Ltd. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ Malhotra, Inder (15 May 2009). "When the Buddha first smiled". The Indian Express. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ^ Karmakar, Rahul (25 September 2018). "Renewed push for Statehood in the Northeast". The Hindu. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
- ^ "INDIA REARRANGES NORTHEAST REGION". The New York Times. 23 January 1972.
- ^ "Arunachal Pradesh became an Indian State today: Some interesting facts about the 'Land of the Dawn-Lit Mountains'". India Today. 20 February 2017.
- ^ Sethi, Sunil (18 February 2015). "Did India have a right to annex Sikkim in 1975?". India Today.
- ^ "A historical introduction to Naxalism in India". European Foundation for South Asian Studies. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
- ^ "The Unlawful Activities (Prevention)" (PDF). nic.in. National Informatics Centre. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 October 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
- ^ Infiltration has not reduced in Kashmir, insurgency down in North East: Chidambaram Archived 7 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ TNN (16 December 2008). "Finally, govt clears central terror agency, tougher laws". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
- ^ Watfa, Mohamed K (2011). E-Healthcare Systems and Wireless Communications: Current and Future Challenges: Current and Future Challenges. IGI Global. p. 190. ISBN 978-1-61350-124-5. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
- ^ "NCERT Full form". Vedantu. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ Shakti Shekhar, Kumar (20 August 2018). "5 ways how Rajiv Gandhi changed India forever". India Today. Living Media Pvt. Ltd. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ Singal, Aastha (20 August 2019). "Rajiv Gandhi –The Father of Information Technology & Telecom Revolution of India". entrepreneur.com/. Entrepreneur India. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ Sharma, Sanjay (30 July 2020). "National Education Policy 2020: All You Need to Know". The Times of India. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
- ^ Sachs, Jeffrey D. (6 March 2005). "The End of Poverty". Time. Archived from the original on 17 March 2005.
- ^ "Students cry out: No reservation please". The Times of India. 3 May 2006. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ "Direct SSA funds for school panels". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- ^ "LS passes bill to provide IIT for eight states". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- ^ "Non-Aligned Movement: Jawaharlal Nehru – The architect of India's foreign policy". The Times of India. 20 May 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ "The Indo-Pak war 1965 and the Tashkent agreement: Role of external powers". The Times of India. 24 October 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ "Position of negotiation". Firstpost. Network 18. 9 January 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ "India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, in Beijing to discuss matters of trade and border defence". The Economist. 26 October 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ "Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits Beijing". China Briefing. Business Intelligence. Dezan Shira & Associates. 14 January 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ Bajoria, Jayshree (23 October 2008). "India-Afghanistan Relations". Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on 29 November 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
- ^ a b "India announces more Afghan aid". BBC News. 4 August 2008.
- ^ "A timeline of India's ties with Israel". Mint. HT Media. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
- ^ Bedi, Rahul (19 April 1996). "Permission for Dalai Lama films denied". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
- ^ "India – Zambia Relations" (PDF). Ministry of External Affairs (India). Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "Several African leaders to attend Africa-India summit, AU says". African Press International. 28 March 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
- ^ Mitra, Sumit (8 May 2000). "Congress divided against itself on whether India should have more nuclear tests". India Today. Living Media Pvt. Ltd. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "U.S., India ink historic civilian nuclear deal". People's Daily. 11 October 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
- ^ "Indian Nuclear Weapons Program". The Nuclear Threat Initiative. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ Gopalaswamy, Bharat (January 2010). India and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: To Sign or not to Sign? (Report). SIPRI. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ Haass, Richard N. (23 November 2009). "A Conversation with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh". cfr.org. Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ "The 'peace pipeline'". The National. Abu Dhabi. 28 May 2009. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ "India-South Africa relations" (PDF). mea.gov.in. Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
- ^ "President of Pradesh Congress Committee". INC web portal. Archived from the original on 16 April 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- ^ "The Past And Future of the Indian National Congress". The Caravan. March 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2018 – via Ramachandra Guha.
- ^ a b c Kedar Nath Kumar (1 January 1990). Political Parties in India, Their Ideology and Organisation. Mittal Publications. pp. 41–43. ISBN 978-81-7099-205-9.
- ^ Sanghvi, Vijay (2006). The Congress Indira to Sonia Gandhi. Delhi: Kalpaz Publications. p. 128. ISBN 978-8178353401. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
- ^ Deka, Kaushik (8 July 2019). "Goodbye, Rahul Gandhi?". India Today. Living Media India Limited. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ "All India 2014 Results". Political Baba. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
- ^ "Lok Sabha Election 2014 Analysis, Infographics, Election 2014 Map, Election 2014 Charts". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
- ^ "Congress minority cell opposes quota cut". Tribuneindia News Service. 5 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ "A Short History of the Congress Hand". The Wall Street Journal. News Corp. Dow Jones & Company. 28 March 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
- ^ "How Indira's Congress got its hand symbol". NDTV. 22 December 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
- ^ "Indian political party election symbols from 1951". CNN-IBN. 4 April 2014. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
- ^ "A tale of changing election symbols of Congress, BJP". The Times of India. 5 April 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- ^ Simon Denyer (24 June 2014). Rogue Elephant: Harnessing the Power of India's Unruly Democracy. Bloomsbury USA. pp. 115–116. ISBN 978-1-62040-608-3.
- ^ Radhakrishnan, Sruthi (14 December 2017). "Presidents of Congress past: A look at the party's presidency since 1947". The Hindu. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- ^ Emma Tarlo (24 July 2003). Unsettling Memories: Narratives of the Emergency in Delhi. University of California Press. pp. 27–29. ISBN 978-0-520-23122-1.
- ^ Sumantra Bose (16 September 2013). Transforming India. Harvard University Press. pp. 28–29. ISBN 978-0-674-72819-6.
- ^ Adam Ziegfeld (28 April 2016). Kanchan Chandra (ed.). Democratic Dynasties: State, Party and Family in Contemporary Indian Politics. Cambridge University Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-1-107-12344-1.
- ^ "Exclusive: Complete Text of Congress "Letter Bomb" And Its Big Points". NDTV. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
- ^ "Era of One Party Dominance" (PDF). Aligarh Muslim University. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ Joshi, Poornima (23 December 2019). "Jharkhand polls: JMM-led alliance trounces the BJP in Jharkhand". Business Line. Chennai. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ "DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance wins 21 Corporations in sweep of urban civic polls". The New Indian Express. Express Publications (Madurai) Limited. 23 February 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ Chandran, Cynthia. "MM Hassan takes charge as the UDF convener". The New Indian Express. Express Publications (Madurai) Limited. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ "Himachal Assembly bypoll results 2024: Congress wins 4 of 6 seats in Himachal Assembly bypolls, MLA strength reaches 38". The Hindu. 4 June 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
- ^ "'No alliance in Delhi...': Congress to contest all 70 seats solo in upcoming Delhi assembly elections". Business Today. 30 November 2024. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
- ^ "'There will be no alliance in Delhi': Arvind Kejriwal rules out tie-up with Congress". Financialexpress. 1 December 2024. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
- ^ Chatterjee, Tanmay (23 October 2024). "CPI(M) blames Congress for no alliance in West Bengal assembly bypolls". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
- ^ Som, Moyurie (23 October 2024). "No Left-Congress alliance for Assembly byelections in West Bengal". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
- ^ "First general elections in India: All you need to know". India Today. Living Media Pvt Ltd. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
- ^ Mahurkar, Uday (15 May 1996). "At 98, two-time interim PM Gulzarilal Nanda is the epitome of Gandhian ideals". India Today. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
- ^ Vijaykumar, Neeti (19 January 2017). "Today in 1966: Indira Gandhi becomes Prime Minister". The Week. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
- ^ "Shri P. V. Narasimha Rao". PMO India. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
- ^ "Former Prime Ministers". PM India. Archived from the original on 9 October 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
Sources
- Mahendra Prasad Singh (1981). Split in a Predominant Party: The Indian National Congress in 1969. Abhinav Publications. ISBN 978-81-7017-140-9.
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 81-7017-140-7.
- 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 0-7069-3020-7.
- 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 81-85060-16-9.
- Struggling and Ruling: The Indian National Congress, 1885–1985, by Jim Masselos. Published by Sterling Publishers, 1987.
- The Encyclopedia 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 0-913215-32-5.
- 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 81-85044-05-8.
- The Story of Congress PilgrFile: 1885–1985, by A. Moin Zaidi, Indian National Congress. Published by Indian Institute of Applied Political Research, 1990. ISBN 81-85355-46-0. (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 81-7835-090-4.
- Bipan Chandra, Amales Tripathi, Barun De. Freedom Struggle. India: National Book Struggle. ISBN 978-81-237-0249-0.
External links
- Official website
- Congress Party web resources provided by GovPubs at the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries
- Works by or about Indian National Congress at the Internet Archive
- Indian National Congress at the Encyclopædia Britannica
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
- Indian National Congress
- 1885 establishments in India
- Centrist parties in Asia
- Centrist parties in India
- Centre-left parties in Asia
- Full member parties of the Socialist International
- Indian independence movement
- Liberal parties in India
- Member parties of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance
- National political parties in India
- Nationalist parties in India
- Political parties established in 1885
- Political parties in India
- Progressive Alliance
- Secularism in India
- Secularist organizations
- Social democratic parties in Asia