Important Congress Sessions

5 min

Master key INC sessions, presidents, and historic resolutions for competitive exams.

Golden Rule of Congress Sessions

Every competitive exam repeats questions from landmark INC sessions like 1885, 1907, 1916, 1929, and 1931. Memorize the year, location, and president together to secure guaranteed marks in modern history.

Why This Topic Matters

High repetition rate in SSC, Railway, and State PCS prelims.
Direct factual questions on presidents and venue locations.
Connects foundational nationalism with major freedom struggle milestones.

Quick Memory Hooks

1885 Bombay = WC Bannerjee (First session, 72 delegates).
1907 Surat = Split (Rash Behari Ghosh split the house).
1929 Lahore = Purna Swaraj (Jawaharlal Nehru hoisting tricolour).

Core INC Sessions Master Table

Year & Place	President	Key Significance
1885 Bombay	W.C. Bannerjee	First session held
1906 Calcutta	Dadabhai Naoroji	Swaraj mentioned
1907 Surat	Rash Behari Ghosh	Congress split
1916 Lucknow	A.C. Majumdar	Lucknow Pact
1929 Lahore	J.L. Nehru	Purna Swaraj resolution

Milestone Visual Cards

1917 Calcutta

(First Woman President)

First Woman President

Year[ 1917 ]

Annie Besant presided over the 1917 Calcutta session.

1920 Nagpur

(NCM & Reorganization)

NCM & Reorganization

Year[ 1920 ]

Congress adopted Non-Cooperation and linguistic PCCs under C. Vijayaraghavachariar.

1931 Karachi

(FR & National Econ)

FR & National Econ

Year[ 1931 ]

Vallabhbhai Patel presided over the session adopting Fundamental Rights.

1938 Haripura

(Subhash Chandra Bose)

Subhash Chandra Bose

Year[ 1938 ]

National Planning Committee was set up under Bose at Haripura.

Exam Traps & Mistakes

Sarojini Naidu was first woman presidentAnnie Besant was first woman; Naidu was first Indian woman

Exams frequently interchange Annie Besant (1917) and Sarojini Naidu (1925 Kanpur). Check whether the question asks for 'first woman' or 'first Indian woman'.

Purna Swaraj resolution was passed at Calcutta 1906Lahore 1929 passed Purna Swaraj; Calcutta 1906 had Swaraj word

Calcutta 1906 mentioned Swaraj, but Lahore 1929 officially passed the Purna Swaraj resolution under Jawaharlal Nehru.

Mahatma Gandhi presided over Congress many timesGandhi presided only once at Belgaum in 1924

A common myth is that Gandhi led INC multiple times. He served as Congress President only in 1924 at the Belgaum session.

Test Your Knowledge

Q1.Who was the president of the historic Lahore session of Congress in 1929?

Q2.In which INC session was the famous Gandhi-Irwin Pact endorsed and Fundamental Rights resolution passed?

Page 35 of 40