Editing Indian National Congress (section)

=== Foundation ===
{{See also|Indian independence movement}}
[[File:1st INC1885.jpg|thumb|left|alt= Leaders of the Congress Party gathered in 1885| First session of Indian National Congress, Bombay, 28–31 December 1885]]
[[File:Gopal krishan gokhale.jpg|left|thumb|192x192px|[[Gopal Krishna Gokhale]], a constitutional social reformer, moderate nationalist, and the president of the Indian National Congress in 1905]]
During the latter part of the 1870s, there were concerted efforts among Indians to establish a [[Indian subcontinent|pan-Indian]] organization for nationalist political influence.<ref name="Gehlot 1991 35">{{cite book | last=Gehlot | first=N.S. | title=The Congress Party in India: Policies, Culture, Performance | publisher=Deep & Deep Publications | year=1991 | isbn=978-81-7100-306-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=06HLD2_3Qj4C&pg=PA35 | page=35|quote=The activities of Mr. A.O. Hume were pro – Indian and full of patriotic spirit for the youths.}}</ref> In 1883, [[Allan Octavian Hume]], a retired British [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|Civil Servant]] also known for his pro-Indian activities, outlined his idea for a body representing Indian interests in an open letter to graduates of the [[University of Calcutta]].<ref name="Gehlot 1991 35"/> The aim was to obtain a greater share in government for educated Indians and to create a platform for civic and political dialogue between them and the [[British Raj]]. Hume initiated contact with prominent leaders in India and a notice convening the first meeting of the Indian National Union to be held in [[Poona]] the following December, was issued.<ref name=pattabhi>Sitaramayya, B. Pattabhi. 1935. The History of the Indian National Congress. Working Committee of the Congress. [https://archive.org/details/TheHistoryOfTheIndianNationalCongress Scanned version]</ref> However, due to a [[cholera]] outbreak in Poona it was moved to Bombay.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyoftheindi035503mbp/historyoftheindi035503mbp_djvu.txt |title=Full text of 'The History of the Indian National Congress' |publisher=The Working Committee of the Congress Madras |access-date=16 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/TheHistoryOfTheIndianNationalCongress|title=The History of the Indian National Congress (1885–1935)|author=Pattabhi Sita Ramaiah|date=1 November 2018|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Subsequently, the first session of the Indian National Congress held in [[Bombay]] from 28 to 31 December 1885 at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College.<ref name="First Session">{{cite book |title=The Nehrus: Motilal and Jawaharlal: With a New Preface |chapter=Chapter Four Indian National Congress |date=6 December 2007 |publisher=Oxford Academic |page=45 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195693430.003.0004 |isbn=978-0-19-569343-0 |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/12151/chapter-abstract/161561532?redirectedFrom=fulltext |access-date=5 December 2023}}</ref> Hume organised the first meeting in Bombay with the approval of the [[Governor-General of India|Viceroy]] [[Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava|Lord Dufferin]]. He assumed office as the General Secretary, while [[Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee|Umesh Chandra Banerjee]] was appointed as the first president of Congress.<ref name="GS">{{cite web |url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/33772/1/11010545.pdf |title=Indian National Movement with Special Reference to Surendranath Banerjea and Lajpat Rai |access-date=29 November 2024}}</ref> Hume believed that while the British helped bring peace to India, they still had not solved the country’s economic problems.<ref name="Hume1885">{{Cite book |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/12151/chapter-abstract/161561532?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=true |title=Four Chapter Four Indian National Congress |date=6 December 2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-569343-0 |chapter=Chapter Four Indian National Congress |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195693430.003.0004 |access-date=29 November 2024}}</ref>

The first session was attended by 72 delegates, with the majority being lawyers, representing each province of India.<ref>{{cite news|last=Singh |first=Kanishka |url=https://www.indianexpress.com/article/india/here-is-a-list-of-past-presidents-of-indian-national-congress-4967084/lite/ |title=Indian National Congress: From 1885 till 2017, a brief history of past presidents |newspaper=The Indian Express |date=5 December 2017 |access-date=16 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://m.rediff.com/news/report/cong/20061228.htm |title=Sonia sings Vande Mataram at Congress function – Rediff.com India News |work=Rediff.com |date=28 December 2006 |access-date=16 August 2018}}</ref> Notable representatives included Scottish [[Imperial Civil Service|ICS]] officer [[William Wedderburn]], [[Dadabhai Naoroji]], [[Badruddin Tyabji]] and [[Pherozeshah Mehta]] of the Bombay Presidency Association, [[Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi]] of the [[Poona Sarvajanik Sabha]], social reformer and newspaper editor [[Gopal Ganesh Agarkar]], Justice [[Kashinath Trimbak Telang|K. T. Telang]], [[N. G. Chandavarkar]], [[Dinshaw Wacha]], [[Behramji Malabari]], journalist, and activist [[Gooty Kesava Pillai]], and [[P. Rangaiah Naidu]] of the [[Madras Mahajana Sabha]].<ref>{{cite book|pages=12–27 | title= The history of the Indian National Congress (1885–1935)|author=Sitaramayya, B. Pattabhi|publisher= Working Committee of the Congress|year=1935|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyoftheindi035503mbp#page/n41/mode/1up}}</ref><ref name="INC">{{cite book|first=Judith E.|last=Walsh|title=A Brief History of India|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-0825-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofin0000wals/page/154 154]|year=2006|url=https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofin0000wals/page/154}}</ref> Notably, there were no women present at this session.<ref name="GS" /> During the first session, the Indian delegates presented 9 resolutions to the British authorities including; India Council in London should be abolished, creation of legislative councils for the [[North-West Frontier Province]] (NWFP), [[Sindh]] and [[Awadh]], [[Indian Civil Service|Civil Services]] Reform, and Appointment of a commission to enquire into the working of the Indian Administration from 1858- till date.<ref name="Resolutions1885">{{cite journal | last=Moore | first=R. J. | title=Daniel Argov: Moderates and extremists in the Indian nationalist movement,1883–1920, with special reference to Surendranath Banerjea and Lajpat Raj. xix, 246 pp., 2 Plates. london: Asia Publishing House, [1968]. 45<i>s</i>. | journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies | publisher=Cambridge University Press (CUP) | volume=32 | issue=1 | year=1969 | issn=0041-977X | doi=10.1017/s0041977x00094507 | pages=230}}</ref>

In its early years, Congress was an assembly for politically active individuals who sought reforms within the British Empire. However, there were two distinct factions within the party. One group was in favor of seeking complete independence from British rule, while the other aimed to bring about reforms within the existing system, with a focus on ''[[Indianisation]]''. This division marked the early phase of Congress, as different leaders and members had varied visions for the future of India, ranging from moderate reforms to a push for full sovereignty.<ref name="Roots">{{cite web |title=Indian National Congress |url=https://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/indian-national-congress |access-date=30 March 2022 |publisher=[[The Open University]]}}</ref> They primarily advocated for the 'Indianisation' of administrative services, emphasizing that India should be governed by Indians, with British collaboration. The majority of the founding members of Congress has been educated or lived in Britain. As a result, unrepresentative of the Indian masses at the time,<ref name="SissonWolpert1988">{{cite book|author1=Richard Sisson|author2=Stanley A. Wolpert|title=Congress and Indian Nationalism: The Pre-independence Phase|url={{Google books|QfOSxFVQa8IC|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|year=1988|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-06041-8|page=21|quote=Those fewer than 100 English-educated gentlemen of means and property, mostly lawyers and journalists, could hardly claim to 'represent' some 250 million illiterate impoverished peasants}}</ref> it functioned more as a stage for elite Indian ambitions than a political party for the first two decade of its existence.<ref name="SissonWolpert1988 2">{{cite book|author1=Richard Sisson|author2=Stanley A. Wolpert|title=Congress and Indian Nationalism: The Pre-independence Phase|url={{Google books|QfOSxFVQa8IC|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|year=1988|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-06041-8|pages=22–23|quote=Without any funds or any secretariat, however (other than Hume) Congress remained, during its first decade at least, more of a sounding board for elite Indian aspirations than a political party.}}</ref>