President of the Indian National Congress

The President of the All India Congress Committee, and therefore of the Indian National Congress Party (INC) as a whole, is known as the Congress President.

History

Traditionally, the post rotated between prominent members of the party, successive terms for the same person being frowned upon. During Jawaharlal Nehru's premiership, he rarely held the Presidency of INC, even though he was always head of the Legislative Party.

Indira Gandhi however, institutionalized the practice of having the same person as the President and the Prime Minister after the first Congress split of 1969. Her son Rajiv Gandhi continued that practice.

Narasimha Rao, too held both the Congress President and the Prime Minister's posts. Sitaram Kesri held the post after INC was voted out. But as the INC never returned to power under his leadership, he didn't hold the two posts together.

In 2004, when the INC was voted back into power, Manmohan Singh became the first Prime Minister, not to be the president of the party. Sonia Gandhi is the current Congress President and the longest serving president of the congress party.^[1]

List of presidents of the party

Name of President	Picture	Life span	Year of Pency	Place of Conference
Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee		29 December 1844 – 1906	1885	Bombay
Dadabhai Naoroji		4 September 1825 – 1917	1886	Calcutta
Badruddin Tyabji		10 October 1844 – 1906	1887	Madras
George Yule		1829–1892	1888	Allahabad
William Wedderburn		1838–1918	1889	Bombay
Pherozeshah Mehta		4 August 1845 – 1915	1890	Calcutta
Anandacharlu		August 1843– 1908	1891	Nagpur
Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee		29 December 1844 – 1906	1892	Allahabad
Dadabhai Naoroji		4 September 1848 – 1925	1893	Lahore
Alfred Webb		1834–1908	1894	Madras
Surendranath Banerjee		10 November 1848 – 1925	1895	Poona
Rahimtulla M. Sayani		5 April 1847 – 1902	1896	Calcutta
C. Sankaran Nair		11 July 1857 – 1934	1897	Amraoti
Anandamohan Bose		23 September 1847 – 1906	1898	Madras
Romesh Chunder Dutt		13 August 1848 – 1909	1899	Lucknow
N. G. Chandavarkar		2 December 1855 – 1923	1900	Lahore
Dinshaw Edulji Wacha		2 August 1844 – 1936	1901	Calcutta
Surendranath Banerjee		10 November 1825 – 1917	1902	Ahmedabad
Lalmohan Ghosh		1848–1909	1903	Madras
Henry Cotton		1845–1915	1904	Bombay
Gopal Krishna Gokhale		9 May 1866 – 1915	1905	Benares
Dadabhai Naoroji		4 September 1825 – 1917	1906	Calcutta
Rashbihari Ghosh		23 December 1845 – 1921	1907	Surat
Rashbihari Ghosh		23 December 1845 – 1921	1908	Madras
Madan Mohan Malaviya		25 December 1861 – 1946	1909	Lahore
William Wedderburn		1838–1918	1910	Allahabad
Bishan Narayan Dar		1864–1916	1911	Calcutta
Raghunath Narasinha Mudholkar		1857–1921	1912	Bankipur
Nawab Syed Muhammad Bahadur		?- 1919	1913	Karachi
Bhupendra Nath Bose		1859–1924	1914	Madras
Lord Satyendra Prasanna Sinha		March 1863– 1928	1915	Bombay
Ambica Charan Mazumdar		1850–1922	1916	Lucknow
Annie Besant		1 October 1847 – 1933	1917	Calcutta
Madan Mohan Malaviya		25 December 1861 – 1946	1918	Delhi
Syed Hasan Imam		31 August 1871 – 1933	1918	Bombay (Special Session)
Motilal Nehru		6 May 1861– 6 February 1931	1919	Amritsar
Lala Lajpat Rai		28 January 1865– 17 November 1928	1920	Calcutta (Special Session)
C. Vijayaraghavachariar		1852– 19 April 1944	1920	Nagpur
Hakim Ajmal Khan		1863– 29 December 1927	1921	Ahmedabad
Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das		5 November 1870– 16 June 1925	1922	Gaya
Mohammad Ali Jouhar		10 December 1878– 4 January 1931	1923	Kakinada
Abul Kalam Azad		1888– 22 February 1958	1923	Delhi (Special Session)
Mohandas Gandhi		2 October 1869– 30 January 1948	1924	Belgaum
Sarojini Naidu		13 February 1879– 2 March 1949	1925	Kanpur
S. Srinivasa Iyengar		September 11, 1874– 19 May 1941	1926	Gauhati
Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari		25 December 1880– 10 May 1936	1927	Madras
Motilal Nehru		6 May 1861– 6 February 1931	1928	Calcutta
Jawaharlal Nehru		14 November 1889– 27 May 1964	1929 & 30	Lahore
Vallabhbhai Patel		31 October 1875– 15 December 1950	1931	Karachi
Ranchod Lal Amrit Lal			1932	Delhi
Nellie Sengupta		1886–1973	1933	Calcutta
Rajendra Prasad		3 December 1884– 28 February 1963	1934 & 35	Bombay
Jawaharlal Nehru		14 November 1889– 27 May 1964	1936	Lucknow
Jawaharlal Nehru		14 November 1889– 27 May 1964	1936& 37	Faizpur
Subhas Chandra Bose		23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945	1938	Haripura, Gujarat
Subhas Chandra Bose (resigned) Rajendra Prasad replaced Bose after the session.		23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945	1939	Tripuri, Madhya Pradesh / Chhatisgadh
Abul Kalam Azad		1888– 22 February 1958	1940–46	Ramgarh
J. B. Kripalani		1888– 19 March 1982	1947	Meerut
Pattabhi Sitaraimayya		24 December 1880– 17 December 1959	1948 & 49	Jaipur
Purushottam Das Tandon		1 August 1882– 1 July 1961	1950	Nasik
Jawaharlal Nehru		14 November 1889– 27 May 1964	1951 & 52	Delhi
Jawaharlal Nehru		14 November 1889– 27 May 1964	1953	Hyderabad
Jawaharlal Nehru		14 November 1889– 27 May 1964	1954	Calcutta
U. N. Dhebar		21 September 1905 – 1977	1955	Avadi
U. N. Dhebar		21 September 1905 – 1977	1956	Amritsar
U. N. Dhebar		21 September 1905 – 1977	1957	Indore
U. N. Dhebar		21 September 1905 – 1977	1958	Gauhati
U. N. Dhebar		21 September 1905 – 1977	1959	Nagpur
Indira Gandhi		19 November 1917– 31 October 1984	1959	Delhi
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy		19 May 1913– 1 June 1996	1960	Bangalore
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy		19 May 1913– 1 June 1996	1961	Bhavnagar
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy		19 May 1913– 1 June 1996	1962 & 63	Patna
K. Kamaraj		15 July 1903– 2 October 1975	1964	Bhubaneswar
K. Kamaraj		15 July 1903– 2 October 1975	1965	Durgapur
K. Kamaraj		15 July 1903– 2 October 1975	1966 & 67	Jaipur
S. Nijalingappa		10 December 1902– 9 August 2000	1968	Hyderabad
S. Nijalingappa		15 December 1992– 9 August 2000	1968	Gujarat
P. Mehul		10 December 1902– 9 August 2000	1969	Faridabad
Jagjivan Ram		5 April 1908– 6 July 1986	1970 & 71	Bombay
Shankar Dayal Sharma		19 August 1918– 26 December 1999	1972– 74	Calcutta
Devakanta Barua		22 February 1914 – 1996	1975– 77	Chandigarh
Indira Gandhi		19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984	1978 – 83	Delhi
Indira Gandhi		19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984	1983-84	Calcutta
Rajiv Gandhi		20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991	1985-91	Bombay
P. V. Narasimha Rao		28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004	1992-96	Tirupati
Sitaram Kesri		November 1919 – 24 October 2000	1996-98	Calcutta
Sonia Gandhi		9 December 1946–	1998–present	Calcutta

References

1. "Sonia Gandhi (Indian politician)". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 3 October 2014.

External links

• Official Indian National Congress website