Moderate Phase (1885-1905) - Indian National Congress

Moderate Phase (1885-1905) - Indian National Congress

Important Organisations before Congress

Indian National Congress (I.N.C.): Bombay, 1885

A.O. Hume

• The Indian National Union was formed in 1884 by A.O. Hume, an Englishman and a retired civil servant, in association with various national leaders who called for a conference in Pune in December 1885.
• The conference received the unanimous support of all Indian leaders, but the venue was shifted to Bombay for various reasons (esp. outbreak of cholera in Pune).
• Further, the leaders decided to rename the Indian National Union as Indian National Congress.
• The first session of the Indian National Congress was held at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Bombay under the presidentship of W.C. Bannerji, a veteran lawyer of Calcutta.
• It was attended by 72 delegates from all over India.
• From 1885 onwards the INC met every year and its cause spread rapidly among middle class Indians.
• With the foundation of INC in 1885, the struggle for India's independence was launched in a small, hesitant and mild but organized manner.
• The first two decade of INC are described in history as those of moderate demands and a sense of confidence in British justice and generosity. Their aim was not to be aggressive for attaining independence lest the British should suppress this. This resulted in Indian Council Act in 1892 which allowed some members to be indirectly elected by Indians but keeping the official majority intact.
• Moderate Leaders: Dada Bhai Naoroji, A.O. Hume, Badruddin Tayebji, M.G. Ranade, W.C. Bannerji, Ferozshah Mehta, Surendra Nath Bannerji, C. Shankaran Naiyar, Madan Mohan Malviya, V.S. Shrinivas Shastri, Tej Bahadur Sapru, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Anand Mohan Bose, E. Dinesh Wacha, Ras Bihari Ghosh, Mohan Lai Ghosh, P. Anand Charlu, C.Y. Chintamani, R.C. Dutt, S. Subrahmanyam Aiyer, K.T. Tailang, Madhusudan Das, Rahimtulla M. Sayani.

Opinions about INC

'INC represents only a microscopic minority.’ - Lord Dufferin (1884-88) (Contemporary Viceroy)

'The Congress is tottering to its fall, and one of my great ambitions, while in India, is to assist it to a peaceful demise - Lord Curzon (1899-1905) (Viceror)

INC is a begging institute.' - Aurobindo Ghosh (Extremist Leaders)

'INC should distinguish between begging and claiming the rights.' - Bal Gangadhar Tilak (Extremist Leader)

'INC playing with bubbles.' - Bipin Chandra pal (Extremist Leader)