2018-12-28 Fri

Indian National Congress (INC), the first modern national movement to emerge against British rule was founded today on 28th December 1885. It was considered to be the largest and most prominent Indian public organization and defining influence of the Indian Independence Movement.

The first session of INC was held in Bombay under the President ship of Shri W.C. Bonnerjee with 72 delegates. This session was organized by Alan Octavian Hume at Gokul Das Tejpal Sanskrit College on 28th December 1885. It was the first organized expression of the Indian National Movement on an all India scale. In 1886, the delegates to Congress became 436.

The Congress, over the years, included a number of prominent political figures like Dadabhai Naoroji, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Mohandas KaramChand Gandhi, Mohitlal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mohammed Ali Jinnah and many more.

Even after Independence, the INC remained a prominent political party in India. Prime Ministers like Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi belonged to the Indian National Congress.

To commemorate the centenary of the INC, the Department of Posts, India released a stamp on December 28, 1985. The postal release was a composite of 4 stamps showing the portraits of 60 former Congress Presidents and Allan Octavian Hume, the founder of the INC.

Image Source: Mintage World