Founded in 1885, the Indian National Congress (INC) was at the forefront of the nationalist movement in India before 1947.Created in 1885 by A. O. Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji and Sir Dinshaw Edulji Wacha, the Indian National Congress became the nation's leader in the Independence Movement, with over 15 million Indians involved in its organizations and over 70 million participants in its struggle against the British Empire.
After independence the Congress, hitherto an all-embracing national movement, was transformed into a political party. Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister (1947–1964), it retained the character of an eclectic political organization with a wide range of positions. The INC has traditionally tried to bridge communitarian divides, regarding the secular principle as most appropriate for a multi-religious state. Concern for maintaining communal harmony had led to criticism of favoring minorities, especially Muslims.The Congress' social policy is based upon the Gandhian principle of Sarvodaya—the lifting up of all sections of society—which involves the improvement of the lives of economically underprivileged and socially marginalised people.
The present President of the INC is Indira Gandhi’s daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi, the wife of Rajiv Gandhi. Sonia Gandhi’s son Rahul Gandhi is the current Vice President of INC. The Nehru-Gandhi legacy has percolated to the party’s top leadership even today. The Congress has won General Elections a number of times in the country. The 2009 elections made the Congress form the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Manmohan Singh was chosen again as the Prime Minister of India, and represents.the Congress Party suffered a worse electoral performance than it had in 1996 and 1998, winning only 114 seats. Nevertheless, in the 2004 national elections the party scored a surprising victory and returned to power. Gandhi, however, declined an invitation to become prime minister and instead supported Manmohan Singh, a former finance minister, who in May 2004 became the country’s first Sikh prime minister. The party again surprised pundits in the 2009 parliamentary elections by increasing its number of seats in the Lok Sabha from 153 to 206, its best showing since 1991.
The Congress, according to its symbol, works in unity with the members and the masses, thereby forming a strong party. The working of the Congress, which follows various ranks within its organisational structure, is also representative of the energy and efforts needed to function as a party.The party touted its record at passing legislation aimed at improving the lot of those living in poverty and rural areas, and it fielded Sonia’s son, Rahul Gandhi, to be its candidate for prime minister. However, the BJP and its leading candidate, Narendra Modi, successfully won over the electorate.By the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the party had lost much of its popular support, mainly because of 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 scam and the Indian coal allocation scam.The Congress won only 44 seats, which was its worst-ever performance in a national election that brought into question whether it would continue to be identified as an officially recognised party.
Contact Details
Official Website of INC : http://aicc.org.in/
Head-Office Address of INC : 24, Akbar Road, New Delhi - 110011, India
Contact Numbers :
PHONE: 91-11-23019080
FAX: 91-11-23017047
Email id: office@aicc.in