Congress sessions
| Congress Sessions | When and Where | President | Importance |
| 1st Session | Dec. 28-30, 1885—Bombay | W C Bonnerjee | • Objectives of the Congress outlined. |
| 2nd Session | Dec. 27-30, 1886—Calcutta | Dadabhai Naoroji | • Merger of National Congress and National Conference. |
| 3rd Session | Dec. 27-30, 1887—Madras | Syed Badruddin Tyabji | • Tayabji became frst Muslim President. • Appeal was made to the Muslims to join hands with other national leaders. |
| 4th Session | Dec. 26-29, 1888—Allahabad | George Yule | • George Yule became frst English President. |
| 5th Session | Dec. 26-28, 1889—Bombay | Sir William Wedderburn | • Congress represented all areas of British India. |
| 6th Session | Dec. 26-30, 1890—Calcutta | Pherozeshah Mehta | • Decision taken to organize session of congress in London |
| 7th Session | Dec. 28-30, 1891—Nagpur | P. Ananda Charlu | |
| 8th Session | Dec. 28-30, 1892—Allahabad | Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee | |
| 9th Session | Dec. 27-30, 1893—Lahore | Shri Dadabhai Naoroji | |
| 10th Session | Dec. 26-29, 1894—Madras | Alfred Webb | |
| 11th Session | Dec. 27-30, 1895—Pune | Surendranath Banerjee | • Demand of a representative body only for educated class. |
| 12th Session | Dec. 28-31, 1896—Calcutta | Rahimatullah M. Sayani | • National song ‘Vande Mataram’ sung for the frst time |
| 13th Session | Dec. 27-29, 1897—Amraoti | C. Sankaran Nair | |
| 14th Session | Dec. 29-31, 1898—Madras | Ananda Mohan Bose | • Social reform was set as the main goal. |
| 15th Session | Dec. 27-29, 1899—Lucknow | Romesh Chunder Dutt | • Demand for permanent fxation of land revenue. |
| 16th Session | Dec. 27-29, 1900—Lahore | N.G. Chandavarkar | |
| 17th Session | Dec. 26-28, 1901—Calcutta | Dinshaw Eduljee Wacha | |
| 18th Session | Dec. 28-30, 1902—Ahmedabad | Surendranath Banerjee | |
| 19th Session | Dec. 28-30, 1903—Madras | Lal Mohan Ghosh | |
| 20th Session | Dec. 26-28, 1903—Bombay | Sir Henry Cotton |
| 21st Session | Dec. 27-30, 1905—Banaras | Gopal Krishna Gokhale | • The Congress expressed resentment against the partition of Bengal. |
| 22nd Session | Dec. 26-29, 1906—Calcutta | Shri Dadabhai Naoroji | • The word ‘Swaraj’ mentioned for the frst time. |
| 23rd Session (Suspended) | Dec. 26-27, 1907—Surat | Rash Behari Ghosh | • Split in the Congress into the Moderates and the Extremists. |
| 23rd Session | Dec. 28-30, 1908—Madras | Rash Behari Ghosh | • Constitution for the Congress formed. |
| 24th Session | Dec. 27-29, 1909—Lahore | Madan Mohan Malaviya | • Expressed disapproval over formation of separate electorates on the basis of religion (of the Indian Councils Act, 1909). |
| 25th Session | Dec. 26-29, 1910—Allahabad | Sir William Wedderburn | |
| 26th Session | Dec. 26-28, 1911—Calcutta | Bishan Narayan Dar | • National Anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’ sung for the frst time |
| 27th Session | Dec. 26-28, 1912—Bankipore | Shri Raghunath Narasinha Mudholkar | |
| 28th Session | Dec. 26-28, 1913—Karachi | Nawab Syed Mohammed Bahadur | |
| 29th Session | Apr. 14-15, 1914—Madras | Bhupendra Nath Bose | |
| 30th Session | Dec. 27-29, 1915—Bombay | Satyendra Prasanna Sinha |
| 31st Session | Dec. 26-30, 1916—Lucknow | Ambica Charan Mazumdar | • Merger/Reunion of Congress (Reunion of extremists and moderates). • Lucknow pact – joint session with the Muslim league. |
| 32nd Session | Dec. 26-29, 1917—Calcutta | Annie Besant | • Annie Besant became 1st women President. |
| 33rd Session | Dec. 26-30, 1918—Delhi | Madan Mohan Malaviya | |
| Special Session | Aug. 29-01, 1918—Bombay | Syed Hasan Imam | |
| 34th Session | Dec. 26-30, 1919—Amritsar | Motilal Nehru | • Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre was condemned. • Boosted the Khilafat Movement. |
| 35th Session | Dec. 26-30, 1920—Nagpur | C. Vijayaraghavachariar | • Gandhian programme was adopted. • A new constitution of the Congress is formed. |
| 36th Session | Dec. 27-28, 1921—Ahmedabad | Hakim Ajmal Khan (Acting President for C.R. Das who was in prison) | • Harsat Mohani demanded for complete independence. |
| 37th Session | Dec. 26-31, 1922—Gaya | Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das | • The Swarajya Party formed. |
| Special Session | Sep. 04-08, 1923—Delhi | Maulana Abul Kalam Azad | • Maulana Abul Kalam Azad became the youngest president of INC |
| 39th Session | Dec. 26-27, 1924—Belgaum | M.K. Gandhi | • The only session where Gandhi Ji was the President of INC |
| 40th Session | Apr. 15-17, 1925—Cawnpore (Kanpur) | Mrs. Sarojini Naidu | • First Indian Woman President of INC |
| 41st Session | Dec. 26-28, 1926—Gawahati | S. Srinivasa Iyengar | |
| 42nd Session | Dec. 26-28, 1927—Madras | M.A. Ansari | • Nehru and S.C. Bose moved resolution for independence and it was passed for the 1st time. |
| • Resolved to boycott the Simon Commission. | |||
| 43rd Session | Dec. 29-01, 1928—Calcutta | Motilal Nehru | • The frst All India Youth Congress came into being. |
| 44th Session | Apr. 16-18, 1929—Lahore | Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru | • The resolution for Poorna Swaraj was passed. • Civil Disobedience Movement for complete independence to be launched. • 26th January was decided to be celebrated as ‘Independence Day of India.’ |
| 45th Session | Mar. 21-31, 1931—Karachi | Vallabbhai J. Patel | • Resolution on Fundamental Rights and National Economic Progress was passed. |
| Gandhi-Irwin pact was endorsed, and Gandhi Ji was nominated to represent INC in the second round table conference. | ||||
| 47th Session | Sep. 12-14, 1933—Calcutta | Mrs. Nellie Sengupta | ||
| 48th Session | Oct. 24-28, 1934—Bombay | Dr. Rajendra Prasad | • Formation of Congress Socialist Party. | |
| 49th Session | Jun. 18-20, 1936—Lucknow | Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru | • The President urged the Congress to adopt socialism as its goal. | |
| 50th Session | Jul. 12-14, 1937—Faizpur | Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru | • The session held in a village for the frst time. • Demand for Constituent Assembly. | |
| 51st Session | Feb. 19-21, 1938—Haripura | Subhash Chandra Bose | • National Planning Committee set up under Jawahar Lal Nehru. • Haripura Resolution passed, which demanded Poorna Swaraj, including the princely states as well. | |
| 52nd Session | Mar. 10-12, 1939—Tripura | Subhash Chandra Bose | • S.C. Bose resigned due to difference with Gandhi. • Rajendra Prasad took over as president after
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| 53rd Session | Mar. 19-20, 1940—Ramgarh | Maulana Abul Kalam Azad | • He was the longest serving President of INC during British Rule. • Quit India Movement started in 1942. |
| 54th Session | Nov. 23-24, 1946—Meerut | J.B. Kripalani | • Last session before Indian Independence |
