Indian National Congress

In the 1880s, the socio-political situation in India and around it in British ruling circles raised the question of creating a political organization of Indian patriots. The liberal vice-king of India, Lord Ripon (1880–1884), supported in this matter the initiative of a group of Indian public figures. In his memorandum (December 25, 1882), he called for political reforms in India to be carried out from above within the constitutional framework.

“These events will not only have today's results,” said the head of the British administration, “expressed in the gradual and safe implementation of political education among the population, which in itself is an object of politics, but will also pave the way for further progress in this area as this education will become more complete and widespread. ”

In December 1885, the constituent congress of the Indian National Congress (INC), the first non-religious, essentially parliamentary, nationwide organization in the history of the ancient country, took place in Bombay. In his address to the participants of this session, its chairman V. Ch. Banerji on the main tasks of the new party expressed the following idea:

“The eradication of all racial, religious and national prejudices among the patriots of our country through direct friendly, personal communication with each other, as well as the development and consolidation of the mood of national unity, which take their course during the unforgettable rule of Lord Ripon .”

The resolutions of the Indian Patriots Forum formulated the main requirements of the congressists to the British government and parliament: the liquidation of the current Indian Affairs Council in London, the expansion of the composition of the Central Legislative Council in India under the vice king at the expense of the Indians, the need to carry out the same innovations in the provincial councils .

Such partially elected bodies should be entitled to apply for requests and protests to the British House of Commons, where it is necessary to form a standing committee to consider the problems of India. In addition, delegates to the INC bombing session proposed that Indian applicants be eligible to fill positions in the Indian civil service in India, not only in the UK, but also in their homeland. You can see that in these claims of the leaders of the INC to the British government, congressists were very modest and did not go beyond the laws in their country.

The founders of the Congress - G.K. Gokhale , F. Mehta , S. Banerjee , D. Narorodzhi - were not at all against the preservation of British rule in India. They worshiped the ideologists of British liberalism Macaulay , Gladstone , as well as the pillars of British utilitarianism Bentham and Mill .

The leadership of the INC has launched violent political activity in India, as well as in the UK, seeking constitutional concessions. Various forms of parliamentary legal activity and personal ties were used. In 1892, the British Parliament passed a law expanding the rights of Indians to participate in elections on a curious basis to the central and local legislative bodies of British India. Now the Indian opposition demanded the right to introduce its representatives into the lower house of the British parliament and to obtain through it for India a status close to that of British dominion .

D. Narorogee in 1893 was elected from the Liberal Party of Great Britain to the British Parliament. His passionate condemnation of the current system of governing India has been heard more than once by British parliamentarians. He advocated the establishment of equitable and harmonious Indian-British relations.

The increasing influence of the INC during the First World War prompted the British authorities to provide India with limited self-government. A law passed in 1919 strengthened the importance of elected legislative assemblies under the Viceroy and governors of the provinces and granted the Indians the right to hold secondary ministerial posts in the system of colonial administration.

In the wake of the protest after the shooting of a demonstration in Amritsar in 1919, Mahatma Gandhi decided to hold his first All-India action of civil disobedience in the form of a massive boycott of the entire British - goods, educational institutions, courts, administration, elections, etc. This campaign played an important role in the development of the pan-Indian independence movement, which helped transform the INC into a massive organization with millions of supporters and many tens of thousands of activists. In early 1922, the protest campaign was suspended, as some bloody excesses showed that the movement was getting out of the control of the INC with its principle of non-violent action.

Throughout the 1920s, with the explicit encouragement of the British authorities, the activity of the All-Indian Muslim League revived. She was opposed by the organization of the faithful Hindus Hindu Mahasabha (Great Union of Hindus). This religious split, which threatened to escalate into conflict, aroused concern for leaders of the INC.

Swarajists competing with Gandhi achieved considerable influence in the INC. They , led by Motilal Nehru , opposed the conduct of massive disobedience campaigns. They considered the main thing to get seats in the legislative assemblies and influence through them on the colonial administration.

In 1928, M. Nehru presented the INC a draft of the future constitution of India, providing for the granting of her dominion status. The refusal of the British authorities to accept this project was the reason for the start of the second campaign of civil disobedience. At the beginning of 1930, the INC conducted preparations for India’s Independence Day, scheduled for January 26, and in March Gandhi published its 11 items containing demands on the British authorities to release political prisoners and create more favorable conditions for the development of the Indian economy. The British authorities' refusal to accept these demands was a formal reason for launching a new protest campaign, which included the Gandhi Salt Camp . In May 1930, Gandhi and his supporters were arrested, but after this mass demonstrations began throughout the country, including uprisings of peasants and border tribes. The British entered into negotiations with the leaders of the INC, as a result of which an agreement was reached to end the campaign, provided that the authorities refused repression and amnesty to the participants in the movement (except for those who participated in violent actions).

In September 1931, in London, the leaders of the INC at the "round table conference" resolutely demanded self-government and dominion status for India. The failure of the negotiations was used by Gandhi as a pretext for a new campaign of civil disobedience, this time in the form of a refusal of civil cooperation, and mainly of an individual character.

Inside the INC, the positions of the left wing strengthened, led by its young leaders S. C. Bos and D. Nehru . In 1936, Nehru was elected president of the INC. It was he who most sharply opposed the constitution proposed by the British authorities of India in 1935. But the elections held on the basis of this constitution brought the victory of the INC in early 1937, and in eight out of 11 provinces of the country, the cabinet of ministers were formed by congressists. The INC also launched political work in the native principalities , where alliances, parties were created, and hartals were held.

In October 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II , the INC promised to cooperate with the British authorities, subject to the creation of a responsible national government in India and the convening of a constituent assembly to determine the constitutional structure of the country. In January 1940, India was offered dominion status after the war, while retaining the responsibility of Great Britain for the defense of India for 30 years. The INC did not accept this proposal, but did not insist on a tough opposition. Meanwhile, the position of the INC in India itself was complicated due to the fact that the Muslim League in 1940 officially proposed dividing India into two states, the Hindu and the Muslim ( Pakistan ). In addition, left-wing congressional leader Subhas Chandra Bos provoked a split in the INC, creating a pro-Japanese Indian National Army in Burma that fought with British forces. In addition, at the end of 1940, Gandhi announced another campaign of civil disobedience in the form of individual protests and non-cooperation.

In 1942, the British authorities agreed to convene a constituent assembly after the war, but stipulated the right of some individual provinces and principalities to become independent dominions, which was a clear hint of agreement with the proposal of the Muslim League to divide India on a religious basis. The INC did not accept these proposals and resolutely demanded the immediate independence of India. In August 1942, a massive campaign of non-cooperation was launched , the result of which was the arrest of Gandhi and other leaders of the INC, who were released only in May 1944.

In the summer of 1945, during negotiations with leaders of the INC and the Muslim League in Simla, the British authorities agreed to create an All-India Executive Council (cabinet). However, they demanded that it be formed not on a political, but on a religious basis, which was rejected by both the INC and the Muslim League. Following this, new mass anti-British demonstrations began in the country, affecting the army and navy. In part, they were associated with the trial of the leaders of the Indian National Army.

In the spring of 1946, it was announced that India would be granted dominion status and the upcoming elections with the division of voters into two curiae, Hindu and Muslim.

After the division of British India and independence by India in 1947, the INC completely dominated the politics of independent India until 1969, when the conservative wing split off from the INC - the Indian National Congress (Organization) . Opposition parties were able to gain control of more than half of the seats in the lower house of parliament and state legislatures, but they could not, for a number of reasons, act in a coordinated manner against the INC. It is believed that the success of the INC is determined by its focus on key figures in constituencies (these were mainly authoritative representatives of the landowner caste, relying on a network of caste, family and economic ties), which provided the necessary votes for the INC in the elections.

The INC has suffered its first defeat in 1977. The INC-Organization became part of the Janat party , and the leader of the INC-Organization, Morarji Desai, became the Prime Minister. A new split of the INC occurred after its defeat in the elections in 1977 - early 1978. The main part of the party was called the Indian National Congress (Indira) - INC (I). In July 1981, the Electoral Commission called the new party, led by Indira Gandhi, "the real Congress." In the 1980 election, Congress (I) came to power again. He retained it in the 1985 elections, but lost in 1989.

Having failed to gain most seats in the lower house of parliament in the 1991 elections, Congress (I) was able, however, to form a minority government that launched liberal economic reforms. In the 1996 elections, Congress (already without the Indira prefix) was defeated and agreed to support the government of the coalition of the center-left - the United Front.

In 1999, Sonya Gandhi was elected to the post of President of the INC. This year, the INC received the smallest number of seats in the lower house of parliament in its entire history, but by 2002, the INC had the majority of seats in the legislative assemblies of many states.

Until 2004, the INC was the most influential opposition party. The “anti-corruption purge” in the party’s leadership and the course to increase its “transparency” contributed to the restoration of the influence of the INC. INC is supported in North and Central India.

The highest body is a plenary session held once every three years, between sessions - the working committee ( Working Committee ), the highest bodies of local organizations - state committees, district committees, primary committees.

• Indian National Liberation Movement
• August movement
• Vallabhai Patel is one of the party leaders.

in Russian

• Devyatkina T.F. Indian National Congress (1947-1964). - M .: Nauka , 1970 .-- 200 p.
• Indian National Congress / Devyatkina T.F. // Willow - Italics. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1972. - ( Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 vols.] / Ch. Ed. A. M. Prokhorov ; 1969-1978, vol. 10).
• Reginin A.I. Indian National Congress: Essays on Ideology and Politics (60s - 1st half of the 70s). - Science , 1978.- 296 p.
• Indian National Congress / Safronova A.L. // Plasma Radiation - Islamic Salvation Front. - M .: Big Russian Encyclopedia, 2008. - ( Big Russian Encyclopedia : [in 35 vols.] / Ch. Ed. Yu. S. Osipov ; 2004—2017, vol. 11). - ISBN 978-5-85270-342-2 .
• Khashimov I. M. , Kutina M. M. Activities of the Indian National Congress and regional public organizations of India (late XIX - early XX centuries). / Acad. Sciences Uzb. SSR , Institute of Oriental Studies. Abu Rayhan Beruni. - Tashkent : Fan, 1988 .-- 282 p. - ISBN 5-648-00627-6

in other languages

• Brass PR The politics of India since independence. 3rd ed. Camb. , 2006.
• Parties and party politics in India / Ed. by Z. Hasan. New Delhi , 2002.

• Indian National Congress (INC)
• Indian National Congress and the struggle for the independence of India // History of the East