Indian National Congress - Wikipedia Indian National Congress Not to be confused with Indian National Congress ( Organisation ). Indian National Congress President Sonia Gandhi Parliamentary Chairperson Sonia Gandhi Lok Sabha leader Mallikarjun Kharge Rajya Sabha leader Ghulam Nabi Azad ( Leader of the Opposition ) Founder Allan Octavian Hume Dadabhai Naoroji Dinshaw Wacha Founded 28 December 1885 ( 131 years ago ) ( 1885 - 12 - 28 ) Headquarters 24, Akbar Road, New Delhi 110001 Newspaper Congress Sandesh Student wing National Students Union of India Youth wing Indian Youth Congress Women 's wing Mahila Congress Labour wing Indian National Trade Union Congress Minority wing Minority Congress Membership c. 20 million Ideology Social democracy Democratic socialism Social liberalism Indian nationalism Gandhian socialism Secularism Progressivism Political position Centre - left International affiliation Progressive Alliance Socialist International Colours Sky blue ECI Status National Party Alliance United Progressive Alliance ( UPA ) Seats in Lok Sabha 45 / 545 ( currently 543 members + 1 Speaker ) Seats in Rajya Sabha 57 / 245 ( currently 244 members ) Election symbol Website www.inc.in Politics of India Political parties Elections This article is part of a series on the Indian National Congress About Presidents History Election history Committees All India Central Election Pradesh Working Frontals Mahila Minority Students Youth Trade The Indian National Congress ( pronunciation ( help info ) ) ( INC, often called Congress ) is a broad - based political party in India. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Empire in Asia and Africa. From the late 19th - century, and especially after 1920, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, Congress became the principal leader of the Indian independence movement, with over 15 million members and over 70 million participants. The Congress led India to independence from Great Britain, and powerfully influenced other anti-colonial nationalist movements in the British Empire. The Congress is a secular party whose social liberal platform is generally considered on the centre - left of Indian politics. The Congress ' social policy is based upon the Gandhian principle of Sarvodaya -- the lifting up of all sections of society -- which involves the improvement of the lives of economically underprivileged and socially marginalised people. The party primarily endorses social liberalism -- seeking to balance individual liberty and social justice, and secularism -- asserting the right to be free from religious rule and teachings. After India 's independence in 1947, the Congress formed the government at center in most instances, and many regional state governments. Congress became India 's dominant political party ; as of 2015, in the 15 general elections since independence, it has won an outright majority on six occasions and has led the ruling coalition a further four times, heading the central government for 49 years. There have been seven Congress Prime Ministers, the first being Jawaharlal Nehru ( 1947 -- 64 ), and the most recent Manmohan Singh ( 2004 -- 14 ). Although it did not fare well in the last general elections in India in 2014, it remains one of two major, nationwide, political parties in India, along with the right - wing, Hindu nationalist, Bhartiya Janata Party ( BJP ). In the 2014 general election, the Congress had its poorest post-independence general election performance, winning only 44 seats of the 543 - member Lok Sabha. From 2004 to 2014, the Congress - led United Progressive Alliance, a coalition of several regional parties, formed the Indian government and was headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. As of July 2017, the party is in power in five states : Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Meghalaya and Mizoram. The Congress has previously directly ruled Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Goa. Contents 1 History 1.1 Pre-independence 1.1. 1 Foundation 1.1. 2 Early years 1.1. 3 Congress as a mass movement 1.2 Post-independence 1.2. 1 Nehru / Shastri era ( 1947 -- 66 ) 1.2. 2 Indira era ( 1966 -- 84 ) 1.2. 3 Rajiv Gandhi and Rao era ( 1985 -- 98 ) 1.2. 4 Modern era 2 Election symbols 3 In general elections 4 Current structure and composition 4.1 State and territorial units 5 Ideology and policies 5.1 Economic policy 5.2 Healthcare and education 5.3 Security and home affairs 5.4 Foreign policy 6 Presence in various states 6.1 List of current INC and UPA governments 7 List of Prime Ministers 7.1 List of Prime Ministers ( former Congress members ) 8 See also 9 References 9.1 Notes 9.2 Citations 10 Further reading 11 External links History Main article : History of the Indian National Congress The history of the Indian National Congress ( INC ) falls into two distinct eras : The pre-independence era, when the party was the umbrella organisation leading the campaign for independence ; The post-independence era, when the party has had a prominent place in Indian politics. A.O. Hume, one of the founders of the Indian National Congress Pre-independence See also : Indian independence movement First session of Indian National Congress, Bombay, 28 -- 31 December 1885 Mahatma Gandhi spinning yarn, in the late 1920s Foundation The Indian National Congress conducted its first session in Bombay from 28 -- 31 December 1885 at the initiative of retired Civil service officer, Allan Octavian Hume. In 1883, Hume had outlined his idea for a body representing Indian interests in an open letter to graduates of the University of Calcutta. Its 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 took the initiative, and in March 1885 a notice convening the first meeting of the Indian National Union to be held in Poona the following December was issued. Due to a cholera outbreak there it was moved to Bombay. Hume organised the first meeting in Bombay with the approval of the Viceroy Lord Dufferin. Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee was the first president of the Congress ; the first session was attended by 72 delegates. Representing each province of India, the delegates comprised 54 Hindus and two Muslims ; the rest were of Parsi and Jain backgrounds. Notable representatives included Scottish ICS officer William Wedderburn, Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta of the Bombay Presidency Association, Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi of the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, social reformer and newspaper editor Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, Justice 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. Early years Within the next few years, the demands of the Congress became more radical in the face of constant opposition from the British government, and the party decided to advocate in favour of the independence movement because it would allow a new political system in which the Congress could be a major party. By 1905, a division opened between the moderates led by Gokhale, who downplayed public agitation, and the new `` extremists '' who advocated agitation, and regarded the pursuit of social reform as a distraction from nationalism. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who tried to mobilise Hindu Indians by appealing to an explicitly Hindu political identity displayed in the annual public Ganapati festivals he inaugurated in western India, was prominent among the extremists. The Congress included a number of prominent political figures. Dadabhai Naoroji, a member of the sister Indian National Association was elected president of the party in 1886 and was the first Indian Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons ( 1892 -- 95 ). It also included Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Mohammed Ali Jinnah -- later leader of the Muslim League and instrumental in the creation of Pakistan. The Congress was transformed into a mass movement by Surendranath Banerjea during the partition of Bengal in 1905 and the resultant Swadeshi movement. Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a constitutional social reformer and moderate nationalist, was elected president of the Indian National Congress in 1905. Congress `` extremist '' Bal Gangadhar Tilak speaking in 1907 as the Party split into moderates and extremists. Seated at the table is Aurobindo Ghosh and to his right ( in the chair ) is G.S. Khaparde, both allies of Tilak. Congress as a mass movement Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa in 1915. With the help of the moderate group led by Ghokhale, Gandhi became president of the Congress. After the First World War, the party became associated with Gandhi, who remained its unofficial spiritual leader and icon. He formed an alliance with the Khilafat Movement in 1920 to fight for preservation of the Ottoman Caliphate, and rights for Indians using civil disobedience or satyagraha as the tool for agitation. In 1923, after the deaths of policemen at Chauri Chaura, Gandhi suspended the agitation. In protest, a number of leaders, Chittaranjan Das, Annie Besant, and Motilal Nehru, resigned to set up the Swaraj Party. The Khilafat movement collapsed and the Congress was split. The rise of Gandhi 's popularity and his satyagraha art of revolution led to support from : Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Khan Mohammad Abbas Khan, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Chakravarti Rajgopalachari, Dr. Anugraha Narayan Sinha, Jayaprakash Narayan, Jivatram Kripalani, and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. As a result of prevailing nationalism, Gandhi 's popularity, and polices aimed at eradicating caste differences, untouchability, poverty, and religious and ethnic divisions, the Congress became a forceful and dominant group. Although its members were predominantly Hindu, it had members from other religions, economic classes, and ethnic and linguistic groups. At the Congress ' 1929 Lahore session under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru, Purna Swaraj ( complete independence ) was declared as the party 's goal, declaring 26 January 1930 as `` Purna Swaraj Diwas '', Independence Day. The same year, Srinivas Iyenger was expelled from the party for demanding full independence, not just home rule as demanded by Gandhi. Subhas Chandra Bose served as president of the Congress during 1938 -- 39. After the passage of the Government of India Act 1935, provincial elections were held in India in the winter of 1936 -- 37 in eleven provinces : Madrass, Central Provinces, Bihar, Orissa, United Provinces, Bombay Presidency, Assam, NWFP, Bengal, Punjab and Sindh. After contesting these elections, the Indian National Congress gained power in eight of them except Bengal, Punjab, and Sindh. The All - India Muslim League failed to form the government in any province. The Congress ministries resigned in October and November 1939 in protest against Viceroy Lord Linlithgow 's declaration that India was a belligerent in the Second World War without consulting the Indian people. In 1939, Subhas Chandra Bose, the elected president in both 1938 and 1939, resigned from the Congress over the selection of the working committee. The party was not the sole representative of the Indian polity, other parties included the Hindu Mahasabha and the Forward Bloc. The party was an umbrella organisation, sheltering radical socialists, traditionalists, and Hindu and Muslim conservatives. Gandhi expelled all the socialist groupings, including the Congress Socialist Party, the Krishak Praja Party, and the Swarajya Party, along with Subhas Chandra Bose in 1939. Azad, Patel and Gandhi at an AICC meeting in Bombay, 1940 Azad Hind, an Indian provisional government had been established in Singapore in 1943, and was supported by Japan. In 1946, the British tried the Indian soldiers who had fought alongside the Japanese during World War II in the INA trials. In response the Congress helped form the INA Defence Committee, which assembled a legal team to defend the case of the soldiers of the Azad Hind government. The team included several famous lawyers, including Bhulabhai Desai, Asaf Ali, and Jawaharlal Nehru. The same year, Congress members initially supported the sailors who led the Royal Indian Navy mutiny, but they withdrew support at a critical juncture and the mutiny failed. Post-independence After Indian independence in 1947, the Indian National Congress became the dominant political party in the country. In 1952, in the first general election held after Independence, the party swept to power in the national parliament and most state legislatures. It held power nationally until 1977 when it was defeated by the Janata coalition. It returned to power in 1980 and ruled until 1989, when it was once again defeated. The party formed the government in 1991 at the head of a coalition, as well as in 2004 and 2009, when it led the United Progressive Alliance. During this period the Congress remained centre - left in its social policies while steadily shifting from a socialist to a neoliberal economic outlook. The Party 's rivals at state level have been national parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ), the Communist Party of India ( Marxist ) ( CPM ), and various regional parties such as the Telugu Desam Party. A post-partition successor to the party survived as the Pakistan National Congress, a party which represented the rights of religious minorities in the state. The party 's support was strongest in the Bengali speaking province of East Pakistan. After the Bangladeshi War of Independence, it became known as the Bangladeshi National Congress, but was dissolved in 1975 by the government. Nehru / Shastri era ( 1947 -- 66 ) Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Congress Prime Minister of India ( 1947 -- 64 ) From 1951 until his death in 1964, Jawaharlal Nehru was the Congress ' paramount leader under the tutelage of Mahatma Gandhi, whose Indian independence movement dominated the Party. Congress gained power in landslide victories in the general elections of 1951 -- 52, 1957, and 1962. During his tenure, Nehru implemented policies based on import substitution industrialisation, and advocated a mixed economy where the government - controlled public sector co-existed with the private sector. He believed the establishment of basic and heavy industries was fundamental to the development and modernisation of the Indian economy. The Nehru government directed investment primarily into key public sector industries -- steel, iron, coal, and power -- promoting their development with subsidies and protectionist policies. Nehru embraced secularism, socialistic economic practices based on state - driven industrialisation, and a non-aligned and non-confrontational foreign policy that became typical of the modern Congress Party. The policy of non-alignment during the Cold War meant Nehru received financial and technical support from both the Eastern and Western Blocs to build India 's industrial base from nothing. During his period in office, there were four known assassination attempts on Nehru. The first attempt on his life was during partition in 1947 while he was visiting the North - West Frontier Province in a car. The second was by a knife - wielding rickshaw - puller in Maharashtra in 1955. A third attempt happened in Bombay in 1956. The fourth was a failed bombing attempt on railway tracks in Maharashtra in 1961. Despite threats to his life, Nehru despised having excess security personnel around him and did not like his movements to disrupt traffic. In 1964, Nehru died because of an aortic dissection, raising questions about the party 's future. After his death, K. Kamaraj became the president of the All India Congress Committee. Kamaraj had also been involved in the Indian independence movement, and he introduced education to millions of the rural poor by providing free education along with a free midday meal, when he was chief minister of Tamil Nadu ( 1954 -- 63 ). As a member of `` the syndicate '', a group within the Congress, he proposed the Kamaraj Plan that encouraged six Congress chief ministers and six senior cabinet ministers to resign to take up party work. Kamaraj was widely credited as the `` kingmaker '' in Indian politics for bringing Lal Bahadur Shastri to power in 1964. No leader except Shastri had Nehru 's popular appeal. Shastri became a national hero following the victory in the Indo - Pakistani War of 1965. His slogan, `` Jai Jawan Jai Kisan '' ( `` Hail the soldier, Hail the farmer '' ), became very popular during the war. Shastri retained many members of Nehru 's Council of Ministers ; T.T. Krishnamachari was retained as the Finance Minister of India, as was Defence Minister Yashwantrao Chavan. Shastri appointed Swaran Singh to succeed him as External Affairs Minister. Shashtri appointed Indira Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru 's daughter and former party president, Minister of Information and Broadcasting. Gulzarilal Nanda continued as the Minister of Home Affairs. As Prime Minister, Shastri continued Nehru 's policy of non-alignment, but built closer relations with the Soviet Union. In the aftermath of the Sino - Indian War of 1962, and the formation of military ties between China and Pakistan, Shastri 's government expanded the defence budget of India 's armed forces. He also promoted the White Revolution -- a national campaign to increase the production and supply of milk by creating the National Dairy Development Board. The Madras anti-Hindi agitation of 1965 occurred during Shastri 's tenure. On 11 January 1966, a day after signing the Tashkent Declaration, Shastri died in Tashkent, reportedly of a heart attack ; but the circumstances of his death remain mysterious. Indira era ( 1966 -- 84 ) See also : The Emergency ( India ), Assassination of Indira Gandhi, and 1984 anti-Sikh riots After Shastri 's death, the Congress elected Indira Gandhi as leader over Morarji Desai. Once again, politician K. Kamaraj was instrumental in achieving this result. In 1967, following a poor performance in the general election, Indira Gandhi started moving towards the political left. In 1969, she was in a dispute with senior party leaders on a number of issues ; the party president S. Nijalingappa expelled her from the Congress. Gandhi launched her own faction of the IRC, retaining the support of most of the Congress MPs, 65 of which supported the original party. In the mid-term parliamentary elections held in 1971, the Gandhi - led Congress ( R ) Party won a landslide victory on a platform of progressive policies such as the elimination of poverty ( Garibi Hatao ). The policies of the Congress ( R ) Party under Gandhi before the 1971 elections included proposals to abolish the Privy Purse to former rulers of the Princely states and the 1969 nationalisation of India 's 14 largest banks. Indira Gandhi, second - longest - serving Prime Minister of India and the only woman to hold the office The New Congress Party 's popular support began to wane in the mid-1970s. From 1975, Gandhi 's government grew increasingly more authoritarian and unrest among the opposition grew. On 12 June 1975, the High Court of Allahabad declared Indira Gandhi 's election to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India 's parliament, void on the grounds of electoral malpractice. However, Gandhi rejected calls to resign and announced plans to appeal to the Supreme Court. She moved to restore order by ordering the arrest of most of the opposition participating in the unrest. In response to increasing disorder and lawlessness, Gandhi 's cabinet and government recommended that President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declare a State of Emergency, which he declared on 25 June 1975 based on the provisions of Article 352 of the Constitution. During the nineteen - month emergency, widespread oppression and abuse of power by Gandhi 's unelected younger son and political heir Sanjay Gandhi and his close associates occurred. This period of oppression ended on 23 January 1977, when Gandhi released all political prisoners and called fresh elections for the Lok Sabha to be held in March. The Emergency officially ended on 23 March 1977. In that month 's parliamentary elections, the opposition Janata Party won a landslide victory over the Congress, winning 295 seats in the Lok Sabha against the Congress ' 153. Gandhi lost her seat to her Janata opponent Raj Narain. On 2 January 1978, she and her followers seceded and formed a new opposition party, popularly called Congress ( I ) -- the I signifying Indira. During the next year, her new party attracted enough members of the legislature to become the official opposition. In November 1978, Gandhi regained a parliamentary seat. In January 1980, following a landslide victory for the Congress ( I ), she was again elected prime minister. The national election commission declared Congress ( I ) to be the real Indian National Congress for the 1984 general election and the designation I was dropped. During Gandhi 's new term as prime minister, her youngest son Sanjay died in an aeroplane crash in June 1980. This led her to encourage her elder son Rajiv, who was working as a pilot, to enter politics. Gradually, Indira Gandhi 's politics and outlook grew more authoritarian and autocratic, and she became the central figure of the Congress. As prime minister, she became known for her political ruthlessness and unprecedented centralisation of power. Gandhi 's term as prime minister also saw increasing turmoil in Punjab with demands for Sikh autonomy by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his militant followers. In 1983, they headquartered themselves in the Golden Temple in Amritsar and started accumulating weapons. In June 1984, after several futile negotiations, Gandhi ordered the Indian Army to enter the Golden Temple to establish control over the temple complex and remove Bhindranwale and his armed followers. This event is known as Operation Blue Star. On 31 October 1984, two of Gandhi 's bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, shot her with their service weapons in the garden of the prime minister 's residence in response to her authorisation of Operation Blue Star. Gandhi was due to be interviewed by British actor Peter Ustinov, who was filming a documentary for Irish television. Her assassination prompted the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, during which more than 3,000 people were killed. Rajiv Gandhi and Rao era ( 1985 -- 98 ) Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India ( 1984 -- 1989 ) and President of the Indian National Congress In 1984, Indira Gandhi 's son Rajiv Gandhi became nominal head of the Congress and became prime minister upon her assassination. In December, he led the Congress to a landslide victory, where it secured 401 seats in the legislature. His administration took measures to reform the government bureaucracy and liberalise the country 's economy. Rajiv Gandhi 's attempts to discourage separatist movements in Punjab and Kashmir backfired. After his government became embroiled in several financial scandals, his leadership became increasingly ineffectual. Gandhi was regarded as a non-abrasive person who consulted other party members and refrained from hasty decisions. The Bofors scandal damaged his reputation as an honest politician, but he was posthumously cleared of bribery allegations in 2004. On 21 May 1991, Gandhi was killed by a bomb concealed in a basket of flowers carried by a woman associated with the Tamil Tigers. He was campaigning in Tamil Nadu for upcoming parliamentary elections. In 1998, an Indian court convicted 26 people in the conspiracy to assassinate Gandhi. The conspirators, who consisted of Tamil militants from Sri Lanka and their Indian allies, had sought revenge against Gandhi because the Indian troops he sent to Sri Lanka in 1987 to help enforce a peace accord there had fought with Tamil separatist guerrillas. P.V. Narasimha Rao served as the tenth Prime Minister of India ( 1991 -- 96 ). He was the first prime minister from South India and the state of Andhra Pradesh. Rajiv Gandhi was succeeded as party leader by P.V. Narasimha Rao who was elected prime minister in June 1991. His rise to the prime ministership was politically significant because he was the first holder of the office from South India. His administration oversaw a major economic change and several home incidents that affected India 's national security. Rao, who held the Industries portfolio, was personally responsible for the dismantling of the Licence Raj, which came under the purview of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. He is often called the `` father of Indian economic reforms ''. Future prime ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh continued the economic reform policies begun by Rao 's government. Rao accelerated the dismantling of the Licence Raj, reversing the socialist policies of previous governments. He employed Manmohan Singh as his finance minister to begin a historic economic change. With Rao 's mandate, Singh launched India 's globalisation reforms that involved implementing International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) policies to prevent India 's impending economic collapse. Rao was also referred to as Chanakya for his ability to push tough economic and political legislation through the parliament while he headed a minority government. By 1996, the party 's image was suffering from allegations of corruption, and in elections that year the Congress was reduced to 140 seats, its lowest number in the Lok Sabha to that point. Rao later resigned as prime minister and, in September, as party president. He was succeeded as president by Sitaram Kesri, the party 's first non-Brahmin leader. Modern era This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( August 2015 ) UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the leader of INC since 1998 In the 1998 general election, the Congress won 141 seats in the Lok Sabha, its lowest tally until then. To boost its popularity and improve its performance in the forthcoming election, Congress leaders urged Sonia Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi 's widow, to assume the leadership of the party. She had previously declined offers to become actively involved in party affairs, and had stayed away from politics. After her election as party leader, a section of the party that objected to the choice because of her Italian ethnicity broke away and formed the Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP ), led by Sharad Pawar. The breakaway faction commanded strong support in the state of Maharashtra and limited support elsewhere. The remainder continued to be known as the Indian National Congress. Sonia Gandhi 's appointment initially failed to have an impact ; in the snap polls called by the National Democratic Alliance ( NDA ) government in 1999, the Congress won 114 seats -- its lowest tally ever. The leadership structure was unaltered and the party campaigned strongly in the assembly elections that followed. At these elections the party was successful ; at one point, the Congress ruled 15 states. In the 2004 general election, the Congress forged an alliance with several regional parties, including the NCP and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. The party 's campaign emphasised social inclusion and the welfare of common people, contrasting with the NDA 's `` India Shining '' campaign that sought to highlight the successes of the NDA government in making India into a `` modern nation ''. The Congress - led United Progressive Alliance ( UPA ) won 222 seats in the new parliament, defeating the NDA by a substantial margin. With the support of the communist front, the Congress won a majority and formed the new government. Despite massive support from within the Party, Gandhi declined the post of prime minister, choosing to appoint Manmohan Singh instead. She remained as party president and headed the National Advisory Council ( NAC ). During its first term in office, the UPA government passed several social reform bills. These included an employment guarantee bill, the Right to Information Act, and a right to education act. The NAC, as well as the Left Front that supported the government from the outside, were widely seen as being the driving force behind such legislation. The Left Front withdrew its support of the government over disagreements about the U.S. -- India Civil Nuclear Agreement. Despite the effective loss of 62 seats in parliament, the government survived the trust vote that followed. In the Lok Sabha elections held soon after, the Congress won 207 seats, the highest tally of any party since 1991. The UPA as a whole won 262, enabling it to form the government for the second time. The social welfare policies of the first UPA government, and the perceived divisiveness of the BJP, are broadly credited for the victory. By the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the party had lost much of its popular support, mainly because of several years of poor economic conditions in the country, and growing discontent over a series of corruption allegations involving government officials, including the 2G spectrum scam and the Indian coal allocation scam. The Congress won only 44 seats, which was its worst - ever performance in a national election and brought into question whether it would continue to be identified as an officially recognised party. Election symbols Election symbol of Indira 's Congress ( R ) party during the period 1971 - 1977 As of 2014, the election symbol of the Congress, as approved by the Election Commission of India, is an image of a right hand with its palm facing front and its fingers pressed together ; this is usually shown in the centre of a tricolor flag. The hand symbol was first used by Indira Gandhi when she split from the Congress ( R ) faction following the 1977 elections and created the New Congress ( I ). The symbol of the original Congress during elections held between 1952 and 1971 was an image of two bullocks with a plough. The symbol of Indira 's Congress ( R ) during the period 1971 -- 77 was a cow with a suckling calf. In general elections Year General election Seats won Change in # of seats Percentage of vote Vote swing Indian general election, 1934 5th Central Legislative Assembly 42 42 Indian general election, 1945 6th Central Legislative Assembly 59 17 Indian general election, 1951 1st Lok Sabha 364 44.99 % Indian general election, 1957 2nd Lok Sabha 371 7 47.78 % 2.79 % Indian general election, 1962 3rd Lok Sabha 361 10 44.72 % 3.06 % Indian general election, 1967 4th Lok Sabha 283 78 40.78 % 2.94 % Indian general election, 1971 5th Lok Sabha 352 69 43.68 % 2.90 % Indian general election, 1977 6th Lok Sabha 153 199 34.52 % 9.16 % Indian general election, 1980 7th Lok Sabha 351 198 42.69 % 8.17 % Indian general election, 1984 8th Lok Sabha 415 64 49.01 % 6.32 % Indian general election, 1989 9th Lok Sabha 197 218 39.53 % 9.48 % Indian general election, 1991 10th Lok Sabha 244 47 35.66 % 3.87 % Indian general election, 1996 11th Lok Sabha 140 104 28.80 % 7.46 % Indian general election, 1998 12th Lok Sabha 141 25.82 % 2.98 % Indian general election, 1999 13th Lok Sabha 114 27 28.30 % 2.48 % Indian general election, 2004 14th Lok Sabha 145 32 26.7 % 1.6 % Indian general election, 2009 15th Lok Sabha 206 61 28.55 % 2.02 % Indian general election, 2014 16th Lok Sabha 44 162 19.3 % 9.25 % Current structure and composition The Congress is structured in a hierarchical manner and the organisational structure, created by Mohandas Gandhi 's re-arrangement of the party between 1918 and 1920 has been largely retained. A president and the All India Congress Committee ( AICC ) are elected by delegates from state and district parties at an annual national conference, In every Indian state and union territory -- or pradesh -- there is a Pradesh Congress Committee ( PCC ), which is the state - level unit of the party responsible for directing political campaigns at local and state levels, and assisting the campaigns for parliamentary constituencies.. Each PCC has a working committee of twenty members, most of whom are appointed by the party president, the leader of the state party, who is chosen by the prime minister. Those elected as members of the states ' legislative assemblies form the Congress Legislature Parties in the various state assemblies ; their chairperson is usually the party 's nominee for Chief Ministership. The party is also organised into various committees, and sections ; it publishes a daily newspaper, the National Herald. Despite being a party with a structure, the Congress under Indira did not hold any organizational elections after 1972 The AICC is composed of delegates sent from the PCCs. The delegates elect Congress committees, including the Congress Working Committee consisting of senior party leaders and office bearers. The AICC takes all important executive and political decisions. Since Indira Gandhi formed the Congress ( I ) in 1978, the President of the Indian National Congress has effectively been : the party 's national leader, head of the organisation, head of the Working Committee and all chief Congress committees, chief spokesman, and the Congress ' choice for Prime Minister of India. Constitutionally, the president is elected by the PCCs and members of the AICC ; however, this procedure has often been by - passed by the Working Committee, which has elected its own candidate. The Congress Parliamentary Party ( CPP ) consists of elected MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. There is also a Congress Legislative Party ( CLP ) leader in each state. The CLP consists of all Congress Members of the Legislative Assembly ( MLAs ) in each state. In cases of states where the Congress is single - handedly ruling the government, the CLP leader is the Chief Minister. Other directly affiliated groups include : the National Students Union of India ( NSUI ), the Indian Youth Congress -- the party 's youth wing -- Indian National Trade Union Congress, Mahila Congress, its women 's division, and Congress Seva Dal -- its voluntary organisation. State and territorial units Andaman and Nicobar PCC Andhra Pradesh PCC Arunachal Pradesh PCC Assam PCC Bihar PCC Chandigarh PCC Chhattisgarh PCC Dadra and Nagar Haveli PCC Daman and Diu PCC Delhi PCC Goa PCC Gujarat PCC Haryana PCC Himachal Pradesh PCC Jammu and Kashmir PCC Jharkhand PCC Karnataka PCC Kerala PCC Lakshadweep PCC Madhya Pradesh PCC Maharashtra PCC Manipur PCC Meghalaya PCC Mizoram PCC Nagaland PCC Odisha PCC Puducherry PCC Punjab PCC Rajasthan PCC Sikkim PCC Tamil Nadu PCC Telangana PCC Tripura PCC Uttarakhand PCC Uttar Pradesh PCC West Bengal PCC Further information : National Students Union of India, Indian Youth Congress, Indian National Trade Union Congress, Mahila Congress, and All India Minority Congress Ideology and policies This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( November 2016 ) Part of a series on Liberalism Schools History of liberalism Contributions to liberal theory Ideas Civil and political rights Cultural liberalism Democracy Liberal democracy Economic liberalism Egalitarianism Free market Free trade Freedom of the press Freedom of religion Freedom of speech Gender equality Harm principle Internationalism Laissez - faire Liberty Market economy Natural and legal rights Negative / positive liberty Open society Permissive society Private property Rule of law Secularism Separation of church and state Social contract Welfare state Variants Anarcho - capitalism Civic nationalism Classical liberalism Conservative liberalism Democratic liberalism Geolibertarianism Green liberalism Liberal feminism Equity feminism Liberal internationalism Liberal socialism Muscular liberalism Neoliberalism Ordoliberalism Right - libertarianism Radical centrism Radicalism Religious liberalism Christian Islamic Secular liberalism Social liberalism Technoliberalism People Rifa'a al - Tahtawi Juan Bautista Alberdi Chu Anping Matthew Arnold Raymond Aron Frédéric Bastiat Simone de Beauvoir Jeremy Bentham Isaiah Berlin Eduard Bernstein William Beveridge Norberto Bobbio John Bright Edmund Burke Thomas Carlyle Anders Chydenius Nick Clegg Richard Cobden Marquis de Condorcet Benjamin Constant Benedetto Croce Ludwig Joseph Brentano Jean le Rond d'Alembert Ralf Dahrendorf John Dewey Charles Dickens Denis Diderot Zhang Dongsun Ronald Dworkin Ahmed Lutfi el - Sayed Ralph Waldo Emerson Karl - Hermann Flach Milton Friedman John Kenneth Galbraith William Lloyd Garrison José Ortega y Gasset David Lloyd George William Gladstone Friedrich Hayek Thomas Hobbes L.T. Hobhouse John A. Hobson Qin Hui Piero Gobetti Francisco Luís Gomes John Gray Thomas Hill Green Thomas Jefferson Immanuel Kant Namık Kemal John Maynard Keynes Will Kymlicka Auberon Herbert Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse Wilhelm von Humboldt John Locke Salvador de Madariaga James Madison Harriet Martineau Minoo Masani James Mill John Stuart Mill John Milton Ludwig von Mises Donald Barkly Molteno Leo Chiozza Money Charles de Montesquieu José María Luis Mora Chantal Mouffe Dadabhai Naoroji Friedrich Naumann Robert Nozick Bertil Ohlin Thomas Paine Alan Paton Karl Raimund Popper Richard Price Joseph Priestley Guillermo Prieto François Quesnay Ignacio Ramírez Ayn Rand Walther Rathenau John Rawls Joseph Raz David Ricardo Wilhelm Röpke Richard Rorty Carlo Rosselli Murray Rothbard Jean - Jacques Rousseau Jean - Baptiste Say Amartya Sen Li Shenzhi Hu Shih Algernon Sidney Emmanuel Sieyès İbrahim Şinasi Zef Jubani Adam Smith Hernando de Soto Herbert Spencer Anne Louise Germaine de Staël William Graham Sumner R.H. Tawney Johan Rudolf Thorbecke Henry David Thoreau Alexis de Tocqueville Antoine Destutt de Tracy Anne Robert Jacques Turgot Voltaire Lester Frank Ward Max Weber Mary Wollstonecraft Tao Xingzhi Gu Zhun Organizations Liberal parties Africa Liberal Network ( ALN ) Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe ( ALDE ) Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party ( ALDEP ) Arab Liberal Federation ( ALF ) Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats ( CALD ) European Democratic Party ( EDP ) European Liberal Youth ( LYMEC ) International Federation of Liberal Youth ( IFLRY ) Liberal International Liberal Network for Latin America ( RELIAL ) Liberal South East European Network ( LIBSEEN ) Regional variants Europe Latin America Albania Armenia Australia Austria Belgium Bolivia Brazil Bulgaria Canada China Chile Colombia Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech lands Denmark Ecuador Egypt Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Iran Israel Italy Japan Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Mexico Moldova Montenegro Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Nigeria Norway Panama Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Romania Russia Senegal Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain South Africa South Korea Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand Tunisia Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom United States Uruguay Venezuela Zimbabwe Related topics Democratic capitalism Democratic education Liberal bias in academia Liberal conservatism Liberal socialism National liberalism Regressive left Liberalism portal Politics portal The Congress is a civic nationalist party that follows a form of nationalism that supports the values of freedom, tolerance, equality, and individual rights. Throughout much of the Cold War period, the Congress supported a foreign policy of nonalignment that called for India to form ties with both the western and eastern blocs, but to avoid formal alliances with either. American support for Pakistan led the Party to endorse a friendship treaty with the Soviet Union in 1971. In 2004, when the Congress - led United Progressive Alliance came to power, its chairperson Sonia Gandhi unexpectedly relinquished the premiership to Manmohan Singh. This Singh - led `` UPA I '' government executed several key pieces of legislation and projects, including the Rural Health Mission, Unique Identification Authority, the Rural Employment Guarantee scheme, and the Right to Information Act. Economic policy The Congress endorses a mixed economy in which the private sector and the state direct the economy, reflecting characteristics of both market economies and planned economies. The modern Congress advocates import substitution industrialisation -- the replacement of foreign imports with domestic products. The party also believes mixed economies are likely to protect the environment, standardise the welfare system, and maintain employment standards and competition. The Congress also believes the Indian economy should be liberalised to increase the pace of development. In 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh introduced a value added tax, which replaced the sales tax, and has continued the Golden Quadrilateral and the highway modernisation program that was initiated by Vajpayee 's government. In 2009, India achieved its highest GDP growth rate of 9 % becoming the second - fastest growing major economy in the world. Healthcare and education In 2005, the Congress - led government started the National Rural Health Mission, which employed about 500,000 community health workers. It was praised by American economist Jeffrey Sachs. In 2006, it implemented a proposal to reserve 27 % of seats in the All India Institute of Medical Studies ( AIIMS ), the Indian Institutes of Technology ( IITs ), the Indian Institutes of Management ( IIMs ), and other central higher education institutions for Other Backward Classes, which led to 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests. The Singh government also continued the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme, which includes the introduction and improvement of mid-day school meals and the opening of new schools throughout India, especially in rural areas, to fight illiteracy. During Manmohan Singh 's prime - ministership, eight Institutes of Technology were opened in the states of : Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Orissa, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. Security and home Affairs The Congress has strengthened anti-terrorism laws with amendments to the Unlawful Activities ( Prevention ) Act ( UAPA ). The National Investigation Agency ( India ) ( NIA ) was created by the UPA government soon after the Nov 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in response to the need for a central agency to combat terrorism. The Unique Identification Authority of India was established in February 2009 to implement the proposed Multipurpose National Identity Card with the objective of increasing national security. Foreign policy Manmohan Singh with American President Barack Obama at the White House The Congress has continued the foreign policy started by P. V. Narasimha Rao. This includes the peace process with Pakistan and the exchange of high - level visits by leaders from both countries. The party tried to end the border dispute with the People 's Republic of China through negotiations. Relations with Afghanistan have also been a concern of the party. During Afghan President Hamid Karzai 's visit to New Delhi in August 2008, Manmohan Singh increased the aid package to Afghanistan for the development of schools, health clinics, infrastructure, and defence. India is now as one of the single largest aid donors to Afghanistan. When in power between 2004 and 2014, the Congress worked on India 's relationship with the United States. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited the US in July 2005 to negotiate an Indo - US civilian nuclear agreement. US President George W. Bush visited India in March 2006 ; during this visit a nuclear agreement that would give India access to American nuclear fuel and technology in exchange for the IAEA inspection of its civil nuclear reactors was proposed. Over two years of negotiations, followed by approval from the IAEA, the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the US Congress, the agreement was signed on 10 October 2008. The Congress ' policy has been to cultivate friendly relations with Japan and European Union countries including the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Diplomatic relations with Iran have continued, and negotiations over the Iran - Pakistan - India gas pipeline have taken place. In April 2006 New Delhi hosted an India -- Africa summit attended by the leaders of 15 African states. Congress ' policy has also been to improve relations with other developing countries, particularly Brazil and South Africa. Presence in various states Current ruling parties in the states and union territories of India BJP Coalition with BJP INC Coalition with INC Other parties As of July 2017, Congress is in power in the states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Meghalaya and Mizoram, where the party has majority support. In Puducherry it shares power with alliance partners. Previously, Congress governed Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Manipur. List of current INC and UPA governments No. State / UT Chief Minister Party / alliance partner CM since Seats in Assembly Last election Mizoram Lal Thanhawla INC 11 Dec 2008 33 / 40 25 Nov 2013 Meghalaya Mukul Sangma INC 20 Apr 2010 31 / 60 23 Feb 2013 Himachal Pradesh Virbhadra Singh INC 25 Dec 2012 36 / 68 20 Nov 2012 Karnataka Siddaramaiah INC 13 May 2013 122 / 225 5 May 2013 5 Puducherry V. Narayanasamy INC 6 June 2016 17 / 30 16 May 2016 6 Punjab Amarinder Singh INC 16 Mar 2017 77 / 117 4 Feb 2017 List of prime ministers No. Prime Ministers Year Duration Constituency Jawaharlal Nehru 1947 -- 64 17 years Phulpur Gulzarilal Nanda ( Acting Prime Minister ) May -- June 1964 ; January 1966 26 days Sabarkantha Lal Bahadur Shastri 1964 -- 66 2 years Allahabad Indira Gandhi 1966 -- 77, 1980 -- 84 16 years Uttar Pradesh ( Rajya Sabha ), Rae Bareli, Medak 5 Rajiv Gandhi 1984 -- 89 5 years Amethi 6 P.V. Narasimha Rao 1991 -- 96 5 years Nandyal 7 Manmohan Singh 2004 -- 14 10 years Assam ( Rajya Sabha ) List of prime ministers ( former Congress members ) A majority of non-Congress prime ministers of India are former Congress members. No. Prime Ministers Year Duration Constituency Morarji Desai 1977 -- 79 2 years Surat Charan Singh July 1979 ; January 1980 170 days Baghpat V.P. Singh 1989 -- 90 1 year Fatehpur Chandra Shekhar 223 Days Ballia 5 H.D. Deve Gowda 1996 -- 97 1 year Karnataka ( Rajya Sabha ) 6 I.K. Gujral 1997 -- 98 1 year Bihar ( Rajya Sabha ) See also Liberalism portal India portal Politics portal Congress Working Committee All India Congress Committee Pradesh Congress Committee Statewise Election history of Congress Party Nehru - Feroze Gandhi family List of political parties in India Politics of India List of Presidents of the Indian National Congress References Notes Jump up ^ `` The first modern nationalist movement to arise in the non-European empire, and one that became an inspiration for many others, was the Indian Congress. '' Jump up ^ `` South Asian parties include several of the oldest in the post-colonial world, foremost among them the 129 - year - old Indian National Congress that led India to independence in 1947 '' Jump up ^ `` The organization that led India to independence, the Indian National Congress, was established in 1885. '' Jump up ^ ``... anti-colonial movements... which, like many other nationalist movements elsewhere in the empire, were strongly infuenced by the Indian National Congress. '' Jump up ^ `` During the first five decades of India 's independence, the left - of - center, secular Indian National Congress ( INC ) and its factions have ruled almost continuously... While the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP )... Citations Jump up ^ `` Indian National Congress - Policy and structure ''. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 17 November 2014. Jump up ^ Saez, Lawrence ; Sinha, Aseema ( 2010 ). `` Political cycles, political institutions and public expenditure in India, 1980 -- 2000 ''. British Journal of Political Science. 40 ( 01 ) : 91 -- 113. doi : 10.1017 / s0007123409990226. Jump up ^ `` Progressive Alliance Participants ''. Progressive Alliance. Jump up ^ `` Full Member Parties of Socialist International ''. Socialist International. Jump up ^ `` India General ( Lok Sabha ) Election 2014 Results ''. mapsofindia.com. Jump up ^ `` Election Results India, General Elections Results, Lok Sabha Polls Results India - IBNLive ''. in.com. Jump up ^ `` List of Political Parties and Election Symbols main Notification Dated 18.01. 2013 '' ( PDF ). India : Election Commission of India. 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013. Jump up ^ `` Lok Sabha Official Website ''. 2014 - 09 - 09. Retrieved 2016 - 04 - 12. Jump up ^ `` Rajya Sabha Official Website ''. 2015 - 03 - 21. Retrieved 2016 - 04 - 12. ^ Jump up to : Marshall, P.J. ( 2001 ), The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire, Cambridge University Press, p. 179, ISBN 978 - 0 - 521 - 00254 - 7 Jump up ^ `` Information about the Indian National Congress ''. www.open.ac.uk. Arts & Humanities Research council. Retrieved 29 July 2015. ^ Jump up to : Chiriyankandath, James ( 2016 ), Parties and Political Change in South Asia, Routledge, p. 2, ISBN 978 - 1 - 317 - 58620 - 3 ^ Jump up to : Kopstein, Jeffrey ; Lichbach, Mark ; Hanson, Stephen E. ( 2014 ), Comparative Politics : Interests, Identities, and Institutions in a Changing Global Order, Cambridge University Press, p. 344, ISBN 978 - 1 - 139 - 99138 - 4 Jump up ^ `` Indian National Congress -- about INC, history, symbol, leaders and more ''. Elections.in. 7 February 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014. Jump up ^ `` Indian National Congress, Political Party, India ''. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Missing or empty url = ( help ) ; access - date = requires url = ( help ) Quote : `` broadly based political party of India. Formed in 1885, the Indian National Congress dominated the Indian movement for independence from Great Britain. It subsequently formed most of India 's governments from the time of independence and often had a strong presence in many state governments. '' ^ Jump up to : Strömbäck, Jesper ; Kaid, Lynda Lee ( 2009 ), The Handbook of Election News Coverage Around the World, Routledge, p. 126, ISBN 978 - 1 - 135 - 70345 - 5 Jump up ^ Sitaramayya, B. Pattabhi ( 1935 ). The history of the Indian National Congress ( 1885 -- 1935 ). Working Committee of the Congress. pp. 12 -- 13. Jump up ^ Sitaramayya, B. Pattabhi. 1935. The History of the Indian National Congress. Working Committee of the Congress. Scanned version Jump up ^ Sitaramayya, B. Pattabhi ( 1935 ). The history of the Indian National Congress ( 1885 -- 1935 ). Working Committee of the Congress. pp. 12 -- 27. ^ Jump up to : Judith E. Walsh. A Brief History of India. Infobase Publishing. p. 154. ISBN 9781438108254. Jump up ^ Stanley A. Wolpert, Tilak and Gokhale : Revolution and Reform in the Making of Modern India ( 1962 ) p 67 ^ Jump up to : Mahatma Gandhi. The Gandhi Reader : A Sourcebook of His Life and Writings. Grove Press. p. 254. ISBN 9780802131614. Jump up ^ `` Main Bharat Hun ''. Main Bharat Hun. Retrieved 3 May 2014. Jump up ^ S.M. Ikram. Indian Muslims and Partition of India. Atlantic Publishers. p. 240. ISBN 9788171563746. Jump up ^ SN Sen. History Modern India. New Age International. p. 202. ISBN 9788122417746. Jump up ^ Dates of time spent in Britain : 1919 -- 21. `` Subhas Chandra Bose ``. Open.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2014. Jump up ^ Rudolph, Lloyd I. ; Hoeber Rudolph, Susanne ( 2008 ). Explaining Indian Democracy : The realm of institutions : state formation and institutional change. Oxford University Press ; Original from : University of California Press. p. 58. ISBN 978 - 0 - 19 - 569365 - 2. Jump up ^ Ghose, Sankar ( 1975 ). Political ideas and movements in India. Allied Publishers ; Original from : University of Michigan Press. p. 136. Jump up ^ `` Lawyers in the Indian Freedom Movement -- The Bar Council of India ''. Barcouncilofindia.org. Retrieved 3 May 2014. ^ Jump up to : George McTurnan Kahin, Harold C. Hinton ( 1958 ). Major governments of Asia. Cornell University Press. p. 439. Jump up ^ Moshe Y. Sachs ( 1967 ). Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations : Asia and Australasia. Worldmark Press. Jump up ^ Richard Sisson, Leo E. Rose ( 1991 ). War and Secession : Pakistan, India and the Creation of Bangladesh. University of California Press. pp. 1 -- 15. ISBN 978 - 0 - 520 - 07665 - 5. ^ Jump up to : `` Nehru Years in Indian Politics '' ( PDF ). sps.ed.ac.uk. School of Social and Political Science, Edinburgh. Retrieved 23 June 2014. ^ Jump up to : `` Economic Ideology of Jawaharlal Nehru '' ( PDF ). www.epw.in. Economic and Political Weekly. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` History of Indian Economy Part II ''. Daily News and Analysis. DNA. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Nehru : Founding member of The non-aligned movement ''. news.bbc.co.uk. The British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` History and Evolution of Non-Aligned Movement ''. mea.gov.in. Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. Retrieved 23 June 2014. ^ Jump up to : Nayantara Sahgal ( 1 January 2010 ). Jawaharlal Nehru : Civilizing a Savage World. Penguin Books India. p. 58. ISBN 978 - 0 - 670 - 08357 - 2. Jump up ^ Nayantara Sahgal ( 1 January 2010 ). Jawaharlal Nehru : Civilizing a Savage World. Penguin Books India. p. 60. ISBN 978 - 0 - 670 - 08357 - 2. Jump up ^ Nayantara Sahgal ( 1 January 2010 ). Jawaharlal Nehru : Civilizing a Savage World. Penguin Books India. p. 61. ISBN 978 - 0 - 670 - 08357 - 2. Jump up ^ `` The death of Nehru ''. The Guardian. The Guardian archive. The Guardian News Portal. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Jawaharlal Nehru ( 1889 - 1964 ) ''. bbc.co.uk. The British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` 1964 : Light goes out in India as Nehru dies ''. news.bbc.co.uk. The British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` K. Kamaraj - Life History ''. www.perunthalaivar.org. The Perun Thalaivar organization. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` The Syndicate : Kingmakers of India ''. pib.nic.in. Press Information Bureau : Government of India. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ Mahendra Prasad Singh ( 1 January 1981 ). Split in a Predominant Party : The Indian National Congress in 1969. Abhinav Publications. p. 46. ISBN 978 - 81 - 7017 - 140 - 9. Jump up ^ Bala Jeyaraman ( 2 September 2013 ). Kamaraj : The Life and Times of K. Kamaraj. Rupa Publications. pp. 55 -- 56. ISBN 978 - 81 - 291 - 3227 - 7. Jump up ^ N.S. Gehlot ( 1991 ). The Congress Party in India : Policies, Culture, Performance. Deep & Deep Publications. p. 180. ISBN 978 - 81 - 7100 - 306 - 8. Jump up ^ Mahendra Prasad Singh ( 1 January 1981 ). Split in a Predominant Party : The Indian National Congress in 1969. Abhinav Publications. p. 42. ISBN 978 - 81 - 7017 - 140 - 9. Jump up ^ R.C. Kochar ( 1 January 1997 ). Congress and Socialism : Economic Programmes and Policies. Anamika Publishers & Distributors. p. 130. ISBN 978 - 81 - 86565 - 24 - 7. Jump up ^ `` The Indo - Pakistan war of 1965 ''. indiannavy.nic.in. Indian Navy. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Life of Lal Bahadur Shastri ''. Business Standard. Ananda Publishers. Ananda Bazar Patrika ( ABP ) Group. 26 March 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ R.D. Pradhan ; Madhav Godbole ( 1 January 1999 ). Debacle to Revival : Y.B. Chavan as Defence Minister, 1962 - 65. Orient Blackswan. p. 17. ISBN 978 - 81 - 250 - 1477 - 5. Jump up ^ Arvind Panagariya Professor of Economics and Jagdish Bhagwati Professor of Indian Political Economy Columbia University School of International & Public Affairs ( 1 February 2008 ). India : The Emerging Giant : The Emerging Giant. Oxford University Press. p. 27. ISBN 978 - 0 - 19 - 804299 - 0. Jump up ^ `` History and Politics of India ''. socialsciences.ucla.edu. UCLA Division of Social Sciences. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Biography of Gulzarilal Nanda ''. pmindia.gov.in. Prime Minister 's Office. Archived from the original on 28 August 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ Narayan Agrawal Narayan ; Lal Bahadur Shastri ; Vivek Misra ; Subha Ravi ( 2006 ). Lal Bahadur Shastri, Churn of Conscience. Eternal Gandhi. p. 88. ISBN 978 - 81 - 231 - 0193 - 4. Jump up ^ `` The White Revolution : A beginning ''. unicef.org. UNICEF. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ Jyotirindra Dasgupta ( 1970 ). Language Conflict and National Development : Group Politics and National Language Policy in India. University of California Press. p. 237. ISBN 978 - 0 - 520 - 01590 - 6. Jump up ^ `` The Madras anti-Hindi agitation ''. www.jstor.org. Digital library of academic journals. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Controversial death of Shastri ''. wikileaks-forum.com. Wikileaks Forum. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Lal Bahadur Shastri 's death in Tashkent ''. bbc.com. BBC. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Lal Bahadur Shastri : ''. socialsciences.ucla.edu/. UCLA Division of Social Science. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` March to socialism under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ''. The Economic Times. The Times Group. Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. 24 August 2011. access - date = requires url = ( help ) Jump up ^ `` 1969 : S. Nijalingappa expelled Indira Gandhi from the Party ''. India Today. Aroon Purie. 2 July 2007. Retrieved 25 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` General Elections, India, 1971 : Statistical report '' ( PDF ). eci.nic.in. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Economic Milestone : Nationalisation of Banks ( 1969 ) ''. Forbes India. Forbes. 17 September 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2015. Jump up ^ `` The Emergency, and Indian democracy ''. sscnet.ucla.edu. UCLA Division of Social Science. Retrieved 25 June 2014. Jump up ^ Ghildiyal,, Subodh ( 29 December 2010 ). `` Cong blames Sanjay Gandhi for Emergency ' excesses ' ''. The Times of India. Retrieved 30 January 2014. Jump up ^ Express News Service ( 11 June 2013 ). `` Emergency ' propagandist ' who banned Kishore Kumar songs ''. Indian Express. Retrieved 17 January 2014. Jump up ^ Dasgupta, Swapan ( July 1985 ). `` The Life of Indira Gandhi ''. Book Reviews. Third World Quarterly. 7 ( 3 ) : 731 -- 778. doi : 10.1080 / 01436598508419863. Jump up ^ `` Indian general election, 1977 '' ( PDF ). ipu.org. Inter-Parliamentary Union. Retrieved 25 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` What Prime Minister Indira Gandhi 's Emergency proved for India ''. Rediff.com. Ajit Balakrishnan. Rediff.com. 23 June 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Statistical report general elections, 1980 '' ( PDF ). eci.nic.in. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014. Jump up ^ ELECTION COMMISSION, OF INDIA. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTIONS, 1980 TO THE SEVENTH LOK SABHA ( PDF ). New Delhi : ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA. p. 1. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2016. Jump up ^ `` Postindependence : from dominance to decline ''. britannica.com. Britanica Portal. Retrieved 24 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` The life and death of Sanjay Gandhi ''. The Hindu. N. Ram. The Hindu Group. 19 February 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Sanjay Gandhi dies in plane crash ''. The Sydney Morning Herald. Google News. 24 June 1980. Retrieved 25 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Operation Blue Star 1984 ''. Daily News and Analysis. Deepak Rathi. Dainik Bhaskar. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014. ^ Jump up to : `` 1984 : Operation Blue Star ''. The Daily Telegraph. Ian MacGregor. Telegraph Media Group. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Operation Blue Star ''. The Hindu. N. Ram. The Hindu Group. 10 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` 1984 : Indian prime minister shot dead ''. The British Broadcasting Corporation. The British Broadcasting Corporation. British public service broadcasting statutory corporation. 31 October 1984. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Violence follows Gandhi killing ''. The British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, complete profile ''. pmindia.gov.in. Prime Minister 's Office. Archived from the original on 1 September 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` India General or the 8th Lok Sabha Election Results - 1984 ''. elections.in. Assembly and Parliamentary Election Results Portal. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Resurgent India ''. Daily News and Analysis. Deepak Rathi. Dainik Bhaskar. 22 January 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Rajiv Gandhi and the story of Indian modernization ''. livemint.com. Mint. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Rajiv Gandhi, History and Politics ''. sscnet.ucla.edu. UCLA, Division of Social Sciences. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Rajiv Gandhi cleared over bribery ''. BBC News. 4 February 2004. Retrieved 7 March 2010. Jump up ^ `` The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi ''. NDTV India. Retrieved 21 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Rajiv Gandhi assassination case ''. The Times Group. The Times of India. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014. Jump up ^ D.R. Kaarthikenyan, Radhavinod Raju ; Radhavinod Raju ( 2008 ). Rajiv Gandhi Assassination. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. pp. 89 -- 91. ISBN 978 - 81 - 207 - 3265 - 0. Jump up ^ `` SC refers Rajiv Gandhi killers ' release case to Constitution Bench ''. The Indian Express. 25 April 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` PV Narasimha Rao Biography ''. pmindia.nic.in. Prime Minister 's Office, India. Archived from the original on 27 December 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ Narasimha Rao -- a Reforming PM. BBC News ( 23 December 2004 ). Retrieved 2 March 2007. ^ Jump up to : Arvind Kumar, Arun Narendhranath ( 3 October 2001 ). India must embrace unfettered free enterprise. Daily News and Analysis. Jump up ^ PV Narasimha Rao Remembered as Father of Indian Economic Reforms. VOA News ( 23 December 2004 ). Archived 29 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` Narasimha Rao led India at crucial juncture, was father of economic reform : Pranab ''. 31 December 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2013. Jump up ^ `` PV Narasimha Rao reinvented India ''. thenational.ae. The National. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Foreign Policies of India 's Prime Ministers '' ( PDF ). transnational-perspectives.org. Transnational Organization. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ V. Venkatesan ( 1 -- 14 January 2005 ). `` Obituary : A scholar and a politician ''. Frontline. 22 ( 1 ). Retrieved 30 March 2010. Jump up ^ PV Narasimha Rao Passes Away. Retrieved 7 October 2007. Archived 1 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` Atal Bihari Vajpayee 's 13 - day govt. ''. youtube.com. YouTube. Retrieved 24 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` The Sitaram Kesri case ''. Daily News and Analysis. Deepak Rathi. Dainik Bhaskar. 10 July 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Hands - on influence for Sonia Gandhi as NAC head ''. HT Media Ltd. Mint ( newspaper ). HT Media. Retrieved 17 August 2016. Jump up ^ `` Manmohan survives trust vote ''. India Today. Retrieved 6 January 2014. Jump up ^ Bidwai, Praful. `` Reading the Verdict ''. Frontline. Retrieved 6 January 2014. Jump up ^ `` 2G spectrum scam ''. India Today Group. India Today. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Coal Block Allocations Scam ''. Daily News and Analysis. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` List of Congress winners ''. CNN - Indian Broadcasting Network. CNN - IBN. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Congress Vote Share Dips Below 20 Per Cent for First Time ''. NDTV India. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` A Short History of the Congress Hand ''. The Wall Street Journal. News Corp. Dow Jones & Company. 28 March 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` How Indira 's Congress got its hand symbol ''. NDTV. Prannoy Roy. New Delhi Television Limited. 22 December 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` Indian political party election symbols from 1951 ''. CNN - Indian Broadcasting Network. TV18 Broadcast Limited. Network18. 4 April 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2014. Jump up ^ Sanghvi, Vijay ( 2006 ). The Congress, Indira to Sonia Gandh. New Delhi : Kalpaz Publications. p. 77. ISBN 81 - 7835 - 340 - 7. Jump up ^ Indian National Congress Since Independence. Lotus Press. 1 January 2006. p. 214. ISBN 978 - 81 - 8382 - 050 - 9. ^ Jump up to : `` Structure of All India Congress Committee '' ( PDF ). Association of Democratic Reform. Retrieved 21 June 2014. ^ Jump up to : Kedar Nath Kumar ( 1 January 1990 ). Political Parties in India, Their Ideology and Organisation. Mittal Publications. pp. 41 -- 43. ISBN 978 - 81 - 7099 - 205 - 9. Jump up ^ Sanghvi, Vijay ( 2006 ). The Congress Indira to Sonia Gandhi. Delhi : Kalpaz Publications. p. 128. ISBN 978 - 8178353401. Retrieved 4 November 2016. Jump up ^ `` All India 2014 Results -- Partywise - Political Baba ''. politicalbaba.com. Jump up ^ `` Lok Sabha Election 2014 Analysis, Infographics, Election 2014 Map, Election 2014 Charts - Firstpost Description ''. firstpost.com. Jump up ^ N.S. Gehlot ( 1991 ). The Congress Party in India : Policies, Culture, Performance. Deep & Deep Publications. p. 177. ISBN 978 - 81 - 7100 - 306 - 8. Jump up ^ `` Annual percentage growth rate of GDP ''. worldbank.org. World Bank. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Jump up ^ Sachs, Jeffrey D. ( 6 March 2005 ). `` The End of Poverty ''. Time. Jump up ^ `` Direct SSA funds for school panels ''. Deccan Herald. Retrieved 14 June 2013. Jump up ^ `` LS passes bill to provide IIT for eight states. ''. Deccan Herald. Retrieved 14 June 2013. Jump up ^ `` The Unlawful Activities ( Prevention ) '' ( PDF ). www.nic.in. National Informatics Centre. Retrieved 17 August 2016. Jump up ^ TNN ( 2008 - 12 - 16 ). `` Finally, govt clears central terror agency, tougher laws ''. Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2013 - 09 - 28. Jump up ^ `` Position of negotiation. ''. Firstpost. Firstpost staff. Network 18. 9 January 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2014. Jump up ^ `` India 's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, in Beijing to discuss matters of trade and border defence. ''. The Economist. John Micklethwait. The Economist Group. 26 October 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2014. Jump up ^ `` Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits Beijing ''. China Briefing. Business Intelligence. Dezan Shira & Associates. 14 January 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2014. Jump up ^ Bajoria, Jayshree ( 23 October 2008 ). `` India - Afghanistan Relations ''. Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 11 December 2008. ^ Jump up to : `` BBC NEWS - South Asia - India announces more Afghan aid ''. bbc.co.uk. Jump up ^ `` U.S., India ink historic civilian nuclear deal ''. People 's Daily. 11 October 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2008. Jump up ^ Haass, Richard N. ( 23 November 2009 ). `` A Conversation with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh ''. cfr.org. Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 18 August 2014. Jump up ^ `` The ' peace pipeline ' ''. www.thenational.ae. The National. Retrieved 18 August 2014. Jump up ^ `` Several African leaders to attend Africa - India summit, AU says ''. African Press International. 28 March 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2008. Jump up ^ `` India - South Africa relations '' ( PDF ). mea.gov.in. Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. Retrieved 18 September 2014. Further reading The Indian National Congress : An Historical Sketch, by Frederick Marion De Mello. Published by H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1934. The Indian National Congress, by Hemendra Nath Das Gupta. Published by J.K. Das Gupta, 1946. Indian National Congress : A Descriptive Bibliography of India 's Struggle for Freedom, by Jagdish Saran Sharma. Published by S. Chand, 1959. Social Factors in the Birth and Growth of the Indian National Congress Movement, by Ramparkash Dua. Published by S. Chand, 1967. Split in a Predominant Party : The Indian National Congress in 1969, by Mahendra Prasad Singh. Abhinav Publications, 1981. ISBN 81 - 7017 - 140 - 7. Concise History of the Indian National Congress, 1885 -- 1947, by B.N. Pande, Nisith Ranjan Ray, Ravinder Kumar, Manmath Nath Das. Published by Vikas Pub. House, 1985. ISBN 0 - 7069 - 3020 - 7. The Indian National Congress : An Analytical Biography, by Om P. Gautam. Published by B.R. Pub. Corp., 1985. A Century of Indian National Congress, 1885 -- 1985, by Pran Nath Chopra, Ram Gopal, Moti Lal Bhargava. Published by Agam Prakashan, 1986. The Congress Ideology and Programme, 1920 -- 1985, by Pitambar Datt Kaushik. Published by Gitanjali Pub. House, 1986. ISBN 81 - 85060 - 16 - 9. Struggling and Ruling : The Indian National Congress, 1885 -- 1985, by Jim Masselos. Published by Sterling Publishers, 1987. The Encyclopedia of Indian National Congress, by A. Moin Zaidi, Shaheda Gufran Zaidi, Indian Institute of Applied Political Research. Published by S. Chand, 1987. Indian National Congress : A Reconstruction, by Iqbal Singh, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. Published by Riverdale Company, 1988. ISBN 0 - 913215 - 32 - 5. INC, the Glorious Tradition, by A. Moin Zaidi, Indian National Congress. AICC. Published by Indian Institute of Applied Political Research, 1989. Indian National Congress : A Select Bibliography, by Manikrao Hodlya Gavit, Attar Chand. Published by U.D.H. Pub. House, 1989. ISBN 81 - 85044 - 05 - 8. The Story of Congress PilgrFile : 1885 -- 1985, by A. Moin Zaidi, Indian National Congress. Published by Indian Institute of Applied Political Research, 1990. ISBN 81 - 85355 - 46 - 0. ( 7 vols ) Indian National Congress in England, by Harish P. Kaushik. Published by Friends Publications, 1991. Women in Indian National Congress, 1921 -- 1931, by Rajan Mahan. Published by Rawat Publications, 1999. History of Indian National Congress, 1885 -- 2002, by Deep Chand Bandhu. Published by Kalpaz Publications, 2003. ISBN 81 - 7835 - 090 - 4. Bipan Chandra, Amales Tripathi, Barun De. Freedom Struggle. India : National Book Struggle. ISBN 978 - 81 - 237 - 0249 - 0. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to : Indian National Congress ( category ) Official website United Progressive Alliance Members National Party Indian National Congress State Parties Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Indian Union Muslim League Kerala Congress ( M ) Revolutionary Socialist Party ( India ) Rashtriya Lok Dal Rashtriya Janata Dal Mahan Dal Peace Party of India Communist Marxist Party Kerala Congress ( Jacob ) Leaders Sonia Gandhi Rahul Gandhi Manmohan Singh Motilal Vora Ghulam Nabi Azad Mallikarjun Kharge M. Karunanidhi M.K. Stalin Lalu Prasad Yadav Tejashwi Yadav E. Ahmed K.M. Mani P.J. Joseph T.J. Chandrachoodan Ajit Singh Jayant Chaudhary Keshav Dev Maurya Mohammad Ayub CP John Anoop Jacob Johnny Nellore Ahmed Patel Madhusudan Mistry Anand Sharma Digvijaya Singh P. Chidambaram Indian National Congress Seva Dal Mahila Congress Minority Congress Youth Congress National Students Union of India ( NSUI ) Indian National Trade Union Congress ( INTUC ) Congress Karma Parishad History Statewise Election history of Congress Party Nehru -- Gandhi family Congress Radio 10 Janpath The Emergency Bofors scandal INA Defence Committee Indian National Congress ( Organisation ) Breakaway parties Internal Organisations Congress President Working President Congress Working Committee Central Election Committee All India Congress Committee Pradesh Congress Committees ( PCC ) Andhra Pradesh CC Assam PCC Bihar PCC Chhattisgarh PCC Core group Gujarat PCC Karnataka PCC Kerala PCC Maharashtra PCC Mizoram PCC Mumbai PCC Punjab PCC Tamil Nadu PCC Telangana PCC Uttarakhand PCC West Bengal PCC Presidents Banerjee Naoroji Tyabji Yule Wedderburn Mehta Charlappa Banerjee Naoroji Webb Banerjee Sayani Nair A.M. Bose Dutt Chandavarkar Wacha Banerjee L. Ghosh H. Cotton Gokhale Naoroji R. Ghosh ( 1907 -- 1908 ) Malaviya Wedderburn Dar Mudholkar Bahadur B.N. Bose Sinha Mazumdar Besant Malaviya Imam M. Nehru Rai C. Vijayaraghavachariar Khan Das M. Ali A.K. Azad Mahatma Gandhi Naidu Iyengar Ansari Motilal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru S.V. Patel Malaviya ( 1932 -- 1933 ) Nellie Sengupta Rajendra Prasad ( 1934 -- 1935 ) Jawaharlal Nehru ( 1936 -- 1937 ) S.C. Bose ( 1938 -- 1939 ) A.K. Azad ( 1940 -- 1946 ) J.B. Kripalani Sitaramayya ( 1948 -- 1949 ) Tandon Jawaharlal Nehru ( 1951 -- 1954 ) Dhebar ( 1955 -- 1959 ) Indira Gandhi Neelam Sanjiva Reddy ( 1960 -- 1963 ) K. Kamaraj ( 1964 -- 1967 ) S. Nijalingappa ( 1968 -- 1969 ) Jagjivan Ram ( 1970 -- 1971 ) S.D. Sharma ( 1972 -- 1974 ) Baruah ( 1975 -- 1977 ) Indira Gandhi ( 1978 -- 1984 ) Rajiv Gandhi ( 1985 -- 1991 ) Narasimha Rao ( 1992 -- 1996 ) Kesri ( 1996 -- 1998 ) Sonia Gandhi ( 1998 -- present ) Leaders in the Lok Sabha Gandhi Rao Pawar S. Gandhi Mukherjee Shinde Kharge Leaders in the Rajya Sabha Manmohan Singh Vora Patel Sharma Azad Ramesh Antony Digvijay Chidambaram Singhvi Sibal Political parties in India Current national coalitions National Democratic Alliance United Progressive Alliance Third Front Janata Parivar Former national coalitions Janata Party National Front United Front Recognised national parties All India Trinamool Congress Bahujan Samaj Party Bharatiya Janata Party Communist Party of India Communist Party of India ( Marxist ) Indian National Congress Nationalist Congress Party Recognised state parties Aam Aadmi Party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam All India Forward Bloc All India Majlis - e-Ittehadul Muslimeen All India United Democratic Front Asom Gana Parishad Biju Janata Dal Bodoland People 's Front Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Indian National Lok Dal Jammu & Kashmir National Conference Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party Janata Dal ( Secular ) Janata Dal ( United ) Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Jharkhand Vikas Morcha ( Prajatantrik ) Kerala Congress Kerala Congress ( Mani ) Lok Jan Shakti Party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party Manipur Peoples Party Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Meghalaya Democratic Party Mizo National Front Mizoram People 's Conference Muslim League Kerala State Committee Naga People 's Front National People 's Party N.R. Congress Pattali Makkal Katchi People 's Party of Punjab Rashtriya Janata Dal Rashtriya Lok Dal Rashtriya Lok Samta Party Revolutionary Socialist Party Samajwadi Party Shiromani Akali Dal Shiv Sena Sikkim Democratic Front Telangana Rashtra Samithi Telugu Desam Party United Democratic Party Uttarakhand Kranti Dal YSR Congress Party Mahan Dal Zoram Nationalist Party Other parties in parliament Apna Dal ( Sonelal ) Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi Jan Adhikar Party Socialist Unity Centre of India ( Communist ) Swabhimani Paksha Swatantra Bharat Paksh Unrecognised parties or parties with limited presence Apna Dal All India Muslim Forum Arunachal Congress Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh Bharatiya Awam Party Chhattisgarh Janata Congress Communist Marxist Party Communist Party of India ( Marxist -- Leninist ) Liberation Democratic Socialist Party ( Prabodh Chandra ) Gorkha Janmukti Morcha Hindu Sena Hindustani Awam Morcha Indian Federal Democratic Party Indian National Congress ( Socialist ) Indian National League Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra Jana Sena Party Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy Jharkhand Party Karnataka Janata Paksha Kerala Congress ( Balakrishna Pillai ) Kerala Congress ( Jacob ) Kerala Congress ( Secular ) Kerala People 's Party Kongunadu Munnetra Peravai Lok Satta Party Naam Tamilar Katchi People 's Guardian Peoples Republican Party Peoples ' Resurgence and Justice Alliance Perunthalaivar Makkal Katchi Pragatisheel Indira Congress Professionals Party of India Puthiya Tamilagam Puducherry Munnetra Congress Republican Party of India ( Gavai ) Republican Party of India ( Athvale ) Republican Party of India ( Kamble ) Republican Party of India ( Democratic ) Republican Party of India ( Khobragade ) Revolutionary Socialist Party ( Baby John ) Revolutionary Socialist Party ( Bolshevik ) Samajwadi Janata Party ( Rashtriya ) Sikkim Krantikari Morcha Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi United Goans Democratic Party Welfare Party of India Former political parties Janata Dal Justice Party Praja Socialist Party Swatantra Party Portal : Politics List of political parties Politics of India India topics History Overviews Timeline Years Astronomy Economics Linguistics Maritime Mathematics Metallurgy Military Postal Science and technology Pre-colonial Stone Age Indus Valley Civilization Vedic period Mahajanapadas Mauryas Middle kingdoms Hoysala Chola Pala Kakatiya Delhi Sultanate Vijayanagara Mughals Marathas European trade Colonial Princely East India Company Plassey 1857 rebellion British Raj Railways Economy Army Zamindari Bengali renaissance Political reforms Princely states Partition of Bengal Independence movement 1943 famine World War II Partition Republic Integration Non-Aligned Movement Five - Year Plans Sino - Indian War Indo - Pakistani wars Green Revolution White Revolution Naxal Insurgency Smiling Buddha Space programme The Emergency Indian Peace Keeping Force ( IPKF ) Economic liberalisation Pokhran - II Geography Environment Biosphere reserves Climate Climatic regions Earthquakes Ecoregions Environmental issues Fauna Flora Geology National parks Protected areas Wildlife sanctuaries Landforms Beaches Desert Extreme points Glaciers Islands Lakes Mountains Plains Indo - Gangetic Eastern coastal Western coastal Rivers Valleys Volcanoes Waterfalls Regions East North Northeast South West Subdivisions Autonomous administrative divisions Cities Districts Municipalities States and territories Politics Government Agencies Energy policy Foreign relations Parliament President Vice President Prime Minister Union Council of Ministers Civil Services Cabinet Secretary State governments Law Chief Justice Constitution District Courts Fundamental rights, principles and duties High Courts Human rights Supreme Court Enforcement Federal Border Security Force ( BSF ) Central Industrial Security Force ( CISF ) Central Reserve Police Force ( CRPF ) Indo - Tibetan Border Police ( ITBP ) National Security Guard ( NSG ) Railway Protection Force ( RPF ) Sashastra Seema Bal ( SSB ) Special Protection Group ( SPG ) Intelligence Bureau of Police Research and Development ( BPR&D ) Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI ) Directorate of Revenue Intelligence ( DRI ) Enforcement Directorate Intelligence Bureau ( IB ) Joint Intelligence Committee ( JIC ) Narcotics Control Bureau ( NCB ) National Investigation Agency ( NIA ) Research and Analysis Wing ( R&AW ) Military Army Navy Air Force Politics Censorship Elections Nationalism Parliament Lok Sabha Rajya Sabha Political parties INC BJP BSP CPI CPM NCP Reservations Scandals Scheduled groups Secularism Economy Companies BSE SENSEX CNX Nifty Government - owned companies List of companies Governance Ministry of Finance Finance ministers Ministry of Commerce and Industry Commerce ministers Finance Commission Planning Commission Economic Advisory Council Central Statistical Office Securities and Exchange Board of India Enforcement Directorate Foreign trade Remittances Taxation Subsidies Industrial licensing Voluntary guidelines NITI Aayog Make in India FDI in India Currency Indian rupee History Historical exchange rates data of the Indian rupee Coinage Reserve Bank of India Governors India Government Mint Financial services Banking Banks Insurance Foreign exchange reserves Bombay Stock Exchange National Stock Exchange Multi Commodity Exchange Bullion Black money History Economic Development Economic liberalisation Licence Raj Green revolution Government initiatives Numbering system People Billionaires Businesspeople Demography Income Poverty Labour law Pensions EPFO NPS PPF States Andhra Pradesh Assam Bihar Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Mizoram Nagaland Odisha Punjab Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Telangana Uttarakhand Uttar Pradesh West Bengal Sectors Agriculture Livestock Fishing Automotive Defence Construction Education Energy Nuclear Solar Wind Entertainment Forestry Gambling Healthcare Information technology Media Cinema Television Printing Mining Pharmaceuticals Retail Science and technology Biotechnology Telecommunications Textiles Tourism Transport Aviation Civil Ports Rail Utilities Electricity Water Society Culture Society Caste system Corruption Demographics Education Universities in India Medical colleges in India Law colleges in India Engineering colleges in India Ethnic relations Healthcare Hospitals in India Languages Literacy Poverty Prisons Religion Socio - economic issues Standard of living Water supply and sanitation Crime Culture Arts and entertainment Architecture Blogging Cinema Comics Webcomics Cuisine wine Dance Dress Folklore Festivals Literature Media television Martial arts Music Public holidays Sport GND : 63359 - 8 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indian_National_Congress&oldid=800504796 '' Categories : Indian National Congress 1885 establishments in India Democratic socialism Indian independence movement Liberal parties in Asia Political parties in India Political parties established in 1885 Progressive Alliance Full member parties of the Socialist International Social democratic parties National political parties in India Hidden categories : Pages using web citations with no URL Pages using citations with accessdate and no URL Webarchive template wayback links All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from March 2016 Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages Use Indian English from January 2015 All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English Use dmy dates from December 2014 Pages using deprecated image syntax Articles with hAudio microformats All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from June 2017 Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2015 All articles containing potentially dated statements Articles containing potentially dated statements from July 2017 Articles with unsourced statements from August 2015 Articles needing additional references from August 2015 All articles needing additional references Articles with unsourced statements from November 2016 Articles needing additional references from November 2016 Articles with unsourced statements from June 2014 Articles with unsourced statements from September 2017 Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Talk Variants View source Contents About Wikipedia Wikimedia Commons Languages অসমীয়া বাংলা Bân - lâm - gú Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ भोजपुरी Български Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français ગુજરાતી 한국어 Հայերեն हिन्दी Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית ಕನ್ನಡ ქართული Latviešu मैथिली മലയാളം मराठी Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Occitan ଓଡ଼ିଆ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ پنجابی Piemontèis Polski Português Română Русский संस्कृतम् Scots Shqip සිංහල Simple English سنڌي Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Tagalog தமிழ் తెలుగు ไทย ತುಳು Türkçe Українська اردو Tiếng Việt 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 13 September 2017, at 23 : 52. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: how many years congress ruled india after independence
Answer: 49