"We are a party with a glorious past.
We are the party of the future,
It is for us to ensure that it holds out hope for each and every
Indian. That is our calling and our obligation.
Let the message go forth from this Plenary
that the Congress is aware of its strengths, conscious of its
responsibilities.
Together we will build on our strengths.
Together we will honour our responsibilities.
Together we will strive our utmost
to prove worthy of the trust and confidence
that the people continue to repose in us."
The Indian National Congress(commonly
known as the Congress) is one of the two
major political parties in India.
 It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic
political parties in the world.
 Founded on 28 December 1885 by Allan
Octavian Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji, Dinshaw
Wacha,Womesh Chandra
Bonnerjee, Surendranath
Banerjee, Monomohun Ghose, Mahadev
Govind Ranade and William Wedderburn
 These were the members of
the occultist movement-Theosophical Society
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Until the time of independence of India on August
15, 1947, the Indian National Congress was the
largest and most prominent Indian public
organization, and central and defining influence of
the Indian Independence Movement.
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Although initially and primarily a political body, the
Congress transformed itself into a national vehicle
for social reform and human upliftment.
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The Congress was the strongest foundation and
defining influence of modern Indian nationalism.
Congress
PreIndependence
Moderate
Activist
PostIndependence
The pre-independence era, when the party was at
the forefront of the struggle for independence and
was instrumental in the whole of India.
 The Indian National Congress became the leader
of the Indian Independence Movement, with over
15 million members and over 70 million
participants in its struggle against British rule in
India.
 The moderates were more educated and wanted
to win people's faith to lead the nation to
independence without bloodshed; the activists
however wanted to follow a revolutionary path
and make it a militant organization
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The post-independence era, when the party has
enjoyed a prominent place in Indian politics, ruling
the country for 48 of the 60 years since
independence in 1947.
first taste of electoral defeat (at the national level)
in 1977.
The party's modern liberal platform is largely
considered center-left in the Indian political
spectrum.
After independence in 1947, it became the nation's
dominant political party, led by the Nehru-Gandhi
family for the most part; major challenges for party
leadership have only recently formed.
In the 2009 general elections, the Congress
emerged as the single largest party in the Lok
Sabha, with 205 of its candidates getting
elected to the 543-member house.
 Consequently it, along with a coalition of allies
called the United Progressive Alliance (UPA),
was able to gain a majority and form the
government.

Formation of the present
Government!
In the 2004 general elections,
the Congress alliance won the largest
number of seats.
 Sonia Gandhi was nominated by the
Congress-led United Progressive
Alliance to be the next Prime Minister.
 refused to take the position based on her
"inner voice“
 Dr. Manmohan Singh was sworn-in as
Prime Minister on 22 May 2004

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), AIADMK, SP, RJD,
LJP, TDP,Communist Party of
India(CPI), Communist Party of India
(Marxist)(CPI(M)) and Bahujan Samaj
Party (BSP)
 Won the elections again in 2009
 the only party to achieve 206 seats in 20 years.
 The youth supported the Congress under the
leadership of Rahul Gandhi.
 The Congress's popularity has increased by 61%
during the elections.
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Ideology and policies
the party has favored farmers, laborers, labor
unions, and religious and ethnic minorities
 it has opposed unregulated business and finance,
and favored progressive income taxes.
 in recent years the party had
adopted centrist economic and social
democratic agenda.
 Today, the INC advocates neo-liberal policies which
includes populism, social liberalism, secularism
and free enterprise system with government
regulations such as public–private
partnership (PPP) model.
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Social policy
Social policy of the INC is based on
Gandhian concept of Sarvodaya (upliftment
of all sections of the society.)
 special emphasis on the welfare of the
economically and socially disadvantaged
sections of the society.
 emphasis on employment generation for
rural population
 The party supports family planning with
birth control but opposes elective abortion.
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Economic policy
emphasized on the importance of the public
sector aimed at establishing a "socialistic
pattern of society".
 It has now adopted free market policies.
 It ensures that the weaker sections are not
affected too hard by the liberalization
process.
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Foreign policy
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Traditionally, nonalignment has been the
bedrock of the foreign policy of the INC..
Congress in various states
Congress is currently in power in eight states
(Andhra Pradesh,Arunachal
Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Manipur,
Meghalaya, Mizoram and Rajasthan) where
the party enjoys a majority of its own.
 In five other states — Assam, Goa, Jammu and
Kashmir, Kerala and Maharashtra — it shares
power with other alliance partners.
 In Tamil Nadu it lost power in the 1967 assembly
election and has not been able to recapture it
since then.
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Controversies and criticisms
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Since the party has dominated the political
landscape of India for over a century, there
are many charges of corruption and similar
charges against it.
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A survey by an Indian magazine
Outlook and a television news
channel CNN-IBN in 2011 said that the
Congress was seen as the most corrupt
political party in India.
1947- Anti-Godse riots
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After the knowledge that the assassin of
Mahatma Gandhi, Nathuram Godse, was a
Maharashtrian Brahmin,some workers of
the Congress Party went on a rampage,
against the supporters of Savarkar and
Nathuram Godse, burning their houses
and putting thousands in jail.
1975-1977- State of Emergency
Indira Gandhi's election to the Lok Sabha
void on grounds of electoral malpractice.
 using her strong parliamentary majority, her
ruling Congress Party had amended the
Constitution and altered the balance of
power between the Centre and the States in
favour of the Central Government.
 One of the most controversial periods in
the history of independent India.
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1984 Anti-Sikh riots
Many Congress workers including Jagdish
Tytler, Sajjan Kumar and Kamal Nath were
accused of inciting and participating in Sikh
riots after Operation Bluestar.
 Allegations that the government destroyed
evidence and shielded the guilty.
 violence was perpetrated by INC activists
and sympathizers during the riots.
 Widely criticized for doing very little at the
time, acting as a conspirator.
 "the Mother of all Cover-ups"
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Bofors Scandal
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The Bofors scandal was a
major corruption scandal in India in the
1980s.
Rajiv Gandhi along with Win Chadha and
Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi
were accused of receiving kickbacks to
help Bofors win a bid in 1986 to sell 155 mm
field howitzers to the Indian Army.
Led to the defeat of Gandhi's ruling Congress
party in the November 1989 general
elections.
scale of the scandal was to the tune of Rs.
400 million.[16]
Allegations of religious bias
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Accused of being pro-Muslim, proIslam supporting Sharia Laws and showing
unnatural favouritism to the Indian Muslim
community and toleration.
being soft on Islamic extremism, Islamic
fundamentalism, Islamic terrorism and Islamism.
for the sake of vote bank politics.
Ignoring the plea of Kashmiri Pandits for action
against Islamic terrorists.
Kashmiri Pandits have been in exile since January
1990 following the outbreak of terrorism in
Kashmir.[2
accused by Hindu and Christian
organizations for completely ignoring
the Love Jihad
 Calling the Love Jihad activity as dubious
 allegations by Hindu and Christian
organizations as un-secular for the fear of
losing Muslim votes.
 reports that local Muslim politicians have
been silently supporting and promoting the
'Love Jihad' campaign in Kerala and
Karnataka.
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Alleging the role of Hindu extremist groups
in 2008 Mumbai Terror Attacks
In 2010,
Wikileaks released documents attesting to
the Indian National Congress suggesting the
involvement of right-wing Hindu groups in
the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.[
 The party's stand on this conspiracy theory
kept on changing.
 The main point put forth was that Hemant
Karkare , Maharashtra ATS Chief, had been
gunned down by Hindu extremists who used
the 26th November Mumbai attacks as a
cover.
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Karkare had led the investigation into the
September 2008 Malegaon blasts which
claimed the lives of six people. Initially the
police suspected Muslim terrorists.
 However, authorities recently arrested
eleven Hindus, including an Indian Army
Lieutenant Colonel. Police identified five of
those arrested as having ties to the BJP's
youth wing in their earlier years.
 Two others had ties to a recent addition to
the Sangh Parivar family of Hindu nationalist
organizations
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2G spectrum scam
2G licenses were issued to private
telecom players at throwaway prices in
2008.
 The CAG estimates the Spectrum scam
has cost the government Rs. 1.76 lakh
crore.
 Rules and procedures were flouted while
issuing licenses.
 A. Raja has been reported.
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Bribes to Members of
Parliament
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Congress Party insider Satish Sharma's
political aide Nachiketa Kapur told a US
diplomat on 16 July 2008 that the party
paid INR 100 million (about $2.5 million)
each to four Members of Parliament in
order to help the party narrowly survive
a no-confidence motion.
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A Project by:
Arun Moras.
 Rejo Varghese.
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