List of Presidents of the Indian National Congress
The table below is a chronological list of the Presidents of the Indian National Congress . The formal title is: President of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). The AICC is the executive body of the Congress Party.
The Congress Party President is elected every year at the annual party meetings. The party meetings traditionally take place in different places in India. In the early decades, the post rotated annually between different leaders of the Congress party. It was not until Jawaharlal Nehru's first presidency in 1936-37 that terms of office of several years also became common. In independent India (after 1947) Nehru was both prime minister and congress party president from 1951 to 1955, but afterwards both offices separated again. Indira Gandhi reunited both offices in 1980-84, as did her son Rajiv Gandhi 1985-89 and PV Narasimha Rao 1992-96. Under the Congress Party-led governments 2004-2014, both offices were separated ( Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi as Party President) . By far the longest term in office in the history of the Congress Party was held by Sonia Gandhi, who held the presidency from 1998 to 2017.
Name of the President | Life dates | Year of the presidency | Conference location |
---|---|---|---|
Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee | Dec. 29, 1844-1906 | 1885 | Bombay |
Dadabhai Naoroji | 4th Sep 1825 - June 30, 1917 | 1886 | Calcutta |
Badruddin Tyabji | Oct 10, 1844-1906 | 1887 | Madras |
George Yule | 1829-1892 | 1888 | Allahabad |
William Wedderburn | 1838-1918 | 1889 | Bombay |
Pherozeshah Mehta | 4 Aug 1845-1915 | 1890 | Calcutta |
P. Ananda Charlu | Aug. 1843-1908 | 1891 | Nagpur |
Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee | Dec. 29, 1844-1906 | 1892 | Allahabad |
Dadabhai Naoroji | 4th Sep 1848 - June 30, 1917 | 1893 | Lahore |
Alfred Webb | 1834-1908 | 1894 | Madras |
Surendranath Banerjea | Nov 10, 1848-1925 | 1895 | Poona |
Sayani | Apr 5, 1847-1902 | 1896 | Calcutta |
C. Sankaran Nair | Jul 11, 1857-1934 | 1897 | Amraoti |
Ananda Mohan Bose | 23 Sep 1847-1906 | 1898 | Madras |
Romesh chunder bun | Aug 13, 1848-1909 | 1899 | Lucknow |
Narayan Ganesh Chandavarkar | Dec. 2, 1855-1923 | 1900 | Lahore |
Dinshaw Edulji Wacha | Aug 2, 1844-1936 | 1901 | Calcutta |
Surendranath Banerjea | Nov 10, 1825-1917 | 1902 | Ahmedabad |
Lalmohan Ghosh | 1848-1909 | 1903 | Madras |
Henry Cotton | 1845-1915 | 1904 | Bombay |
Gopal Krishna Gokhale | May 9. 1866-1915 | 1905 | Benares |
Dadabhai Naoroji | 4th Sep 1825 - June 30, 1917 | 1906 | Calcutta |
Rashbihari Ghosh | Dec. 23, 1845-1921 | 1907 | Surat |
Rashbihari Ghosh | Dec. 23, 1845-1921 | 1908 | Madras |
Madan Mohan Malaviya | Dec 25, 1861-1946 | 1909 | Lahore |
William Wedderburn | 1838-1918 | 1910 | Allahabad |
Bishan Narayan Dar | 1864-1916 | 1911 | Calcutta |
Rao Bahadur Raghunath Narasimha Mudholkar | 1857-1921 | 1912 | Bankipur |
Syed Muhammad Bahadur | ? - 1919 | 1913 | Karachi |
Bhupendra Nath Bose | 1859-1924 | 1914 | Madras |
Satyendra Prasanna Sinha | March 1863-1928 | 1915 | Bombay |
Ambica Charan Mazumdar | 1850-1922 | 1916 | Lucknow |
Annie Besant | Oct. 1, 1847-1933 | 1917 | Calcutta |
Madan Mohan Malaviya | Dec 25, 1861-1946 | 1918 | Delhi |
Syed Hasan Imam | Aug 31, 1871-1933 | 1918 | Bombay (special session) |
Motilal Nehru | May 6th. 1861 - Feb. 6, 1931 | 1919 | Amritsar |
Lala Lajpat Rai | Jan 28, 1865 - Nov. 17, 1928 | 1920 | Calcutta (special session) |
C. Vijayaraghavachariar | 1852 - April 19, 1944 | 1920 | Nagpur |
Hakim Ajmal Khan | 1863 - December 29, 1927 | 1921 | Ahmedabad |
Chittaranjan Das | Nov. 5, 1870 - Jun. 16, 1925 | 1922 | Gaya |
Mohammad Ali Jouhar | Dec 10, 1878 - Jan 4, 1931 | 1923 | Kakinada |
Abul Kalam Azad | 1888 - Feb. 22, 1958 | 1923 | Delhi (special session) |
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi | Oct. 2, 1869 - Jan. 30, 1948 | 1924 | Belgaum |
Sarojini Naidu | Feb 13, 1879 - Mar 2 1949 | 1925 | Cawnpore |
S. Srinivasa Iyengar | Sep 11 1874 - May 19. 1941 | 1926 | Gauhati |
Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari | Dec 25, 1880 - May 10. 1936 | 1927 | Madras |
Motilal Nehru | May 6th. 1861 - Feb. 6, 1931 | 1928 | Calcutta |
Jawaharlal Nehru | Nov 14, 1889 - May 27. 1964 | 1929 and 1930 | Lahore |
Vallabhbhai Patel | Oct. 31, 1875 - Dec. 15, 1950 | 1931 | Karachi |
Madan Mohan Malaviya | Dec 25, 1861-1946 | 1932 | Delhi |
Madan Mohan Malaviya | Dec 25, 1861-1946 | 1933 | Calcutta |
Nellie Sen Gupta | 1886-1973 | 1933 | Calcutta |
Rajendra Prasad | Dec 3, 1884 - Feb 28, 1963 | 1934 and 1935 | Bombay |
Jawaharlal Nehru | Nov 14, 1889 - May 27. 1964 | 1936 | Lucknow |
Jawaharlal Nehru | Nov 14, 1889 - May 27. 1964 | 1936 and 1937 | Faizpur |
Subhash Chandra Bose | Jan. 23, 1897 - Aug. 18, 1945? | 1938 | Haripura |
Subhash Chandra Bose | Jan. 23, 1897 - Aug. 18, 1945? | 1939 | Tripuri near Jabalpur |
Abul Kalam Azad | 1888 - Feb. 22, 1958 | 1940-1946 | Ramgarh |
Jivatram Kripalani | 1888 - March 19 1982 | 1947 | Delhi |
BP Sitaramayya | Dec. 24, 1880 - Dec. 17, 1959 | 1948 and 1949 | Jaipur |
Purushottam The tandon | Aug 1, 1882 - Jul 1, 1962 | 1950 | Nashik |
Jawaharlal Nehru | Nov 14, 1889 - May 27. 1964 | 1951 and 1952 | New Delhi |
Jawaharlal Nehru | Nov 14, 1889 - May 27. 1964 | 1953 | Hyderabad |
Jawaharlal Nehru | Nov 14, 1889 - May 27. 1964 | 1954 | Calcutta |
UN Dhebar | 21 Sep 1905-1977 | 1955 | Avadi |
UN Dhebar | 21 Sep 1905-1977 | 1956 | Amritsar |
UN Dhebar | 21 Sep 1905-1977 | 1957 | Indore |
UN Dhebar | 21 Sep 1905-1977 | 1958 | Gauhati |
UN Dhebar | 21 Sep 1905-1977 | 1959 | Nagpur |
Indira Gandhi | Nov 19, 1917 - Oct 31, 1984 | 1959 | New Delhi |
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy | May 19th. 1913 - Jun 1, 1996 | 1960 | Bangalore |
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy | May 19th. 1913 - Jun 1, 1996 | 1961 | Bhavnagar |
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy | May 19th. 1913 - Jun 1, 1996 | 1962 and 1963 | Patna |
K. Kamaraj | Jul 15, 1903-1975 | 1964 | Bhubaneswar |
K. Kamaraj | Jul 15, 1903-1975 | 1965 | Durgapur |
K. Kamaraj | Jul 15, 1903-1975 | 1966 and 1967 | Jaipur |
S. Nijalingappa | Dec 10, 1902 - Aug 8, 2000 | 1968 | Hyderabad |
S. Nijalingappa | Dec 10, 1902 - Aug 8, 2000 | 1969 | Faridabad |
Jagjivan Ram | Apr 5, 1908 - Jul 6, 1986 | 1970 and 1971 | Bombay |
Shankar Dayal Sharma | Aug 19, 1918 - Dec 26, 1999 | 1972-1974 | Calcutta |
Dev Kanta Borooah | Feb. 22, 1914 - Jan 28, 1996 | 1975-1977 | Chandigarh |
Indira Gandhi | Nov 19, 1917 - Oct 31, 1984 | 1978-1983 | New Delhi |
Indira Gandhi | Nov 19, 1917 - Oct 31, 1984 | 1983-1984 | Calcutta |
Rajiv Gandhi | Aug 20, 1944 - May 21. 1991 | 1985-1991 | Bombay |
PV Narasimha Rao | Jun 28, 1921 - Dec 23, 2004 | 1992-1996 | Tirupati |
Sitaram Kesri | Nov. 1919 - Oct. 24, 2000 | 1997-1998 | Calcutta |
Sonia Gandhi | Dec 9, 1946 - | 1998-2017 | Kolkata |
Rahul Gandhi | Jun 19, 1970 - | 2017-2019 | New Delhi |
Sonia Gandhi | Dec 9, 1946 - | 2019 – today | New Delhi |
Web links
- Presidents . Indian National Congress - inc.in, website of the Indian National Congress (English)
- Past Presidents . allindiacongress.com (English)
- INC sessions. inc.in (English)