Editing Indian National Congress (section)

=== Congress as a mass movement ===
<!--[[File:Gandhi spinning.jpg|right|thumb|alt=Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born to a Hindu family on 2nd October 1869, in Porbandar, Gujarat, India|Mahatma Gandhi spinning yarn, in the late 1920s]]-->
[[File:Nehru gandhi.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru during a meeting of the All India Congress, in 1946]]
In 1915, [[Mahatma Gandhi]] returned from South Africa and joined Congress.<ref>{{cite book | last=Field | first=J.F. | title=Great Speeches in Minutes | publisher=[[Quercus]] | year=2019 | isbn=978-1-78747-722-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2jKKDwAAQBAJ | access-date=2023-02-04 | page=190}}</ref><ref name="Sailed 1915">{{cite web |title=Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/mohandas-karamchand-gandhi |publisher=South African History Online |access-date=25 May 2020}}</ref> His efforts in South Africa were well known not only among the educated but also among the masses. During 1917 and 1918, Mahatma Gandhi was involved in three struggles– known as [[Champaran Satyagraha]], Ahmedabad Mill Strike and [[Kheda Satyagraha of 1918|Kheda Satyagraha]].<ref name="experiments">{{cite book |last1=Gandhi |first1=Mohandas Karamchand |title=My experiments with truth |date=1 February 1931 |publisher=Sarvodaya |location=Ahmedabad }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PJeKBAAAQBAJ&q=Barharwa&pg=PA158|title=Modern India 1886–1947|last=Sarkar|first=Sumit|year=2014|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=9789332540859}}</ref><ref name="Mill">{{cite journal |last1=Patel |first1=Sujata |title=Class Conflict and Workers' Movement in Ahmedabad Textile Industry, 1918–23 |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |year=1984 |volume=19 |issue=20/21 |pages=853–864 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4373280 |jstor=4373280 |access-date=10 March 2022}}</ref> After [[World War I]], the party came to be associated with Gandhi, who remained its unofficial spiritual leader and icon.<ref name=M.Ghandi1>{{cite book|author1=Mahatma Gandhi|author-link1=Gandhi|title=The Gandhi Reader: A Sourcebook of His Life and Writings|publisher=Grove Press|isbn=978-0-8021-3161-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/gandhireadersou00gand/page/254 254]|year=1994|url=https://archive.org/details/gandhireadersou00gand/page/254}}</ref> He formed an alliance with the [[Khilafat Movement]] in 1920 as part of his opposition to British rule in India,<ref>{{cite book|title=The Many Colors of Hinduism: A Thematic-historical Introduction|page=29|author=Carl Olson|publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]]|year=2007|isbn=9780813540689 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RVWKClYq4TUC&pg=PA29}}</ref> and fought for the rights for Indians using civil disobedience or {{lang|hi|[[Satyagraha]]}} as the tool for agitation.<ref>Gail Minault, ''The Khilafat movement'' p 69</ref> In 1922, after the deaths of policemen at [[Chauri Chaura incident|Chauri Chaura]], Gandhi suspended the agitation.

With the help of the moderate group led by Gokhale, in 1924 Gandhi became president of Congress.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/who-is/who-was-gopal-krishna-gokhale-liberal-nationalist-mahatma-gandhi-6403225/ |title=Gopal Krishna Gokhale: The liberal nationalist regarded by Gandhi as his political guru |date=13 May 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/here-is-a-list-of-past-presidents-of-indian-national-congress-4967084/ |title=Indian National Congress: From 1885 till 2017, a brief history of past presidents |date=5 December 2017}}</ref> The rise of Gandhi's popularity and his ''satyagraha'' art of revolution led to support from [[Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel]], [[Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru]], [[Rajendra Prasad]], [[Khan Mohammad Abbas Khan]], [[Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan]], [[C. Rajagopalachari|Chakravarti Rajgopalachari]], [[Anugrah Narayan Sinha]], [[Jayaprakash Narayan]], [[Jivatram Kripalani]], and [[Maulana Abul Kalam Azad]]. As a result of prevailing nationalism, Gandhi's popularity, and the party's attempts at eradicating [[caste]] differences, [[untouchability]], poverty, and religious and ethnic divisions, Congress became a forceful and dominant group.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/3517065|title=The Congress and the Revolutionaries in the 1920s |author1=Mittal, S. K.|author2=Habib, Irfan |year=1982 |journal=Social Scientist |volume=10 |issue=6 |pages=20–37 |doi=10.2307/3517065 |jstor=3517065|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1192&context=jvbl |doi=10.22543/0733.102.1192 |title=The Courage to Lead of Gandhi |year=2017 |last1=Iodice |first1=Emilio |journal=The Journal of Values-Based Leadership |volume=10 |issue=2|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/kids/gandhiji-an-inspiration/article12542442.ece |title=Gandhiji – an inspiration |newspaper=The Hindu |date=1 October 2012}}</ref> Although its members were predominantly Hindu, it had members from other religions, economic classes, and ethnic and linguistic groups.<ref>{{cite book | last=Chandra | first=A.M. | title=India Condensed: 5,000 Years of History & Culture | publisher=Marshall Cavendish Corporation | year=2008 | isbn=978-981-261-975-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7-IAAAAQBAJ | page=66}}</ref>

[[File:Flag of Indian National Congress.png|thumb|Flag adopted by INC, 1931]]
At the Congress 1929 Lahore session under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru, {{lang|hi|[[Purna Swaraj]]}} (complete independence) was declared as the party's goal, declaring 26 January 1930 as {{lang|hi|Purna Swaraj Diwas}} (Independence Day).<ref name="Remarks">{{cite web |title=Declaration of Purna Swaraj (Indian National Congress, 1930) Clipboard |url=https://www.constitutionofindia.net/historical_constitutions/declaration_of_purna_swaraj__indian_national_congress__1930__26th%20January%201930 |publisher=CAD India |access-date=25 May 2020}}</ref> The same year, Srinivas Iyenger was expelled from the party for demanding full independence, not just [[home rule]] as demanded by Gandhi.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mainbharathun.org/inc.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721001422/http://www.mainbharathun.org/inc.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=21 July 2010 |title=Main Bharat Hun |publisher=Main Bharat Hun |access-date=3 May 2014 }}</ref>

After the passage of the [[Government of India Act 1935]], [[1937 Indian provincial elections|provincial elections]] were held in India in the winter of 1936–37 in eleven provinces: [[Madras Presidency|Madras]], [[Central Provinces]], Bihar, Orissa, [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]], [[Bombay Presidency]], Assam, NWFP, Bengal, Punjab, and Sindh. The final results of the elections were declared in February 1937.<ref name="Manglik2020">{{cite book|author=Rohit Manglik|title=SSC Sub Inspector CPO (Tier I and II) 2020|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cx_kDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA639|date=21 May 2020|publisher=EduGorilla|page=639|id=GGKEY:AWW79B82A9H}}</ref> The Indian National Congress gained power in eight of them – the three exceptions being Bengal, [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], and Sindh.<ref name="Manglik2020" /> The [[All-India Muslim League]] failed to form a Government in any Province.<ref>{{cite book|title=Indian Muslims and Partition of India|publisher=Atlantic Publishers|isbn=9788171563746|page=240|author1=S. M. Ikram|year=1995|author1-link=S. M. Ikram}}</ref>

Congress [[Minister (government)|Ministers]] resigned in October and November 1939 in protest against Viceroy [[Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow|Lord Linlithgow]]'s declaration that India was a belligerent in [[World War II]] without consulting the Indian people.<ref>{{cite book|author1=SN Sen|title=History Modern India|publisher=New Age International|isbn=9788122417746|page=202|year=2006}}</ref> In 1939, [[Subhas Chandra Bose]], the elected president of Congress in 1938 and 1939, resigned from Congress over the selection of the working committee.<ref>{{cite web |title=Subhas Chandra Bose |url=http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/subhas-chandra-bose |access-date=3 May 2014 |publisher=Open.ac.uk |quote=Dates of time spent in Britain:&nbsp;1919–21}}</ref> Congress was an umbrella organisation, sheltering radical socialists, traditionalists, and Hindu and [[Muslim conservatism|Muslim conservatives]]. [[Mahatma Gandhi]] expelled all the socialist groupings, including the [[Congress Socialist Party]], the [[Krishak Sramik Party|Krishak Praja Party]], and the [[Swaraj Party]], along with [[Subhas Chandra Bose]], in 1939.<ref name=M.Ghandi1 />

After the failure of the [[Cripps Mission]] launched by the British government to gain Indian support for the British war effort, Mahatma Gandhi made a call to "''Do or Die''", delivered in Bombay on 8 August 1942 at the [[Gowalia Tank|Gowalia Tank Maidan]]. Gandhi [[Quit India speech|endorsed]] the [[Quit India Movement|Quit India]] movement, opposing any help to the British cause in the [[World War II|Second World War]].<ref>{{cite book | last1=Green | first1=J. | last2=Della-Rovere | first2=C. | title=Gandhi and the Quit India Movement | publisher=Pearson Education Limited | series=Days of Decision | year=2014 | isbn=978-1-4062-6156-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5ZqcY_E5Z0C&pg=PA33 | page=33}}</ref> The colonial government instituted mass arrests including of Gandhi and Congress leaders, and killed over 1,000 Indians who participated in this movement.<ref>{{cite book |last=Marques |first=J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vCrXDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT403 |title=The Routledge Companion to Inclusive Leadership |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-000-03965-8 |series=Routledge Companions in Business, Management and Marketing |page= |pages=309-310}}</ref> Meanwhile, a spate of violent attacks were carried out by the nationalists against the colonial government and infrastructure.<ref name="Anderson"/> The movement played a role in weakening British control over the South Asian region and ultimately paved the way for Indian independence.<ref name=Anderson>{{cite book | last1=Anderson | first1=D. | last2=Killingray | first2=D. | title=Policing and Decolonisation: Politics, Nationalism, and the Police, 1917–65 | publisher=Manchester University Press | series=Studies in imperialism | year=1992 | isbn=978-0-7190-3033-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rni7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA51 | quote=Britain's hold over India weakened and an early resumption of Congress rule appeared inevitable| page=51}}</ref><ref name=herman467>{{cite book|author=Arthur Herman|title=Gandhi & Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tquxD6dk914C|year=2008|publisher=[[Random House]]|isbn=978-0-553-90504-5|pages=467–70|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913065817/http://books.google.com/books?id=tquxD6dk914C|archive-date=13 September 2014}}</ref>

In 1945, when the Second World War almost came to an end, the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party of the United Kingdom]] won elections with a promise to provide independence to India.<ref>{{cite book | last=Studlar | first=D.T. | title=Great Britain: Decline Or Renewal? | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2018 | isbn=978-0-429-96865-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qQDFDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA117 | page=117|quote=The Labour Party promised independence for India in its campaign in the general election of 1945.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Ram | first=J. | title=V.K. Krishna Menon: A Personal Memoir | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1997 | isbn=978-0-19-564228-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PSFuAAAAMAAJ | page=76|quote= Labour Party had promised freedom for India if they came to power }}</ref> The jailed political prisoners of the Quit India movement were released in the same year.<ref>{{cite book|title=Right to Property in India|page=36|publisher=Deep & Deep Publications|year=1990|author=Naveen Sharma}}</ref>

[[File:Gandhi, Patel and Maulana Azad Sept 1940.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Moderate INC leaders during a meet|[[Abul Kalam Azad|Azad]], [[Sardar Patel|Patel]] and [[Mahatma Gandhi|Gandhi]] at an AICC meeting in Bombay, 1940]]
In 1946, the colonial government tried the soldiers of Japanese-sponsored [[Indian National Army]] in the [[INA trials]]. In response, Congress helped form the [[INA Defence Committee]], which assembled a legal team to defend the soldiers of the [[Azad Hind]] provisional government. The team included several famous lawyers, including [[Bhulabhai Desai]], [[Asaf Ali]], and Jawaharlal Nehru.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.barcouncilofindia.org/about/about-the-legal-profession/lawyers-in-the-indian-freedom-movement/ |title=Lawyers in the Indian Freedom Movement – The Bar Council of India |publisher=Barcouncilofindia.org |access-date=3 May 2014}}</ref> The colonial government eventually backtracked in the face of opposition by the Congress.<ref>{{cite book|last=Moreman|first=Tim|title=The Jungle, Japanese and the British Commonwealth Armies at War, 1941–45: Fighting Methods, Doctrine and Training for Jungle Warfare|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bsoy_-Ep_0EC|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-76456-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Marston|first=Daniel|title=The Indian Army and the End of the Raj|series=Cambridge Studies in Indian History and Society, 23|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-0-521-89975-8|author-link=Daniel Marston (historian)}}</ref>