Indian National Congress

Indian National Congress, political party that led the struggle for the independence of India from the British Empire. It formed the mainstay of the Indian nationalist movement and later dominated the country's government. Founded in 1885 with a base of support chiefly in the upper-class intelligentsia, the Congress originally advocated limited democratic reforms under British rule. Beginning in 1905, it called for swaraj, or self-government, and in 1920 it adopted the strategy of satyagraha (non-violent resistance) devised by Mohandas K. Gandhi, who also widened its support into a true mass movement. By 1929, led by Jawaharlal Nehru, the Congress was demanding total independence. During World War II it refused to support the British war effort, launching instead a “Quit India” campaign that led to violent confrontations and prison terms for about 100,000 of its supporters. After India gained independence, in 1947, the Congress controlled the central government and most of the Indian state governments for 20 years. In 1955 it adopted a programme of democratic socialism. The party split in 1969, but the dominant faction (the New Congress Party) remained in office under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Voted out in 1977, it again split; Indira Gandhi's Congress (I) Party (I for Indira) was again in power from 1980 to 1989, from 1984 under Rajiv Gandhi after his mother Indira's assassination. After a brief interim, Congress (I) was returned to power in 1991 under P. V. Narasimha Rao, but was ousted again in 1996 amid public disaffection with party corruption and increasing support for locally based, left-wing reformist parties and the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

After the dissolution of the BJP-led government soon after election, the United Front formed a coalition backed by Congress (I). Rao resigned as party president in January 1997 and was succeeded by Sitaram Kesri. In April Congress withdrew its support for the government, but resumed the collaboration after a change in the coalition leadership. Six months later Congress once more withdrew its support and in December 1997 the Lok Sabha was dissolved, with elections scheduled for early 1998. In the run-up to the elections Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of Rajiv Gandhi, made a number of speeches in support of the Congress Party and was seen as the standard-bearer for the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty. After an inconclusive general election in early 1998, in which no party attained a parliamentary majority, the BJP formed a new coalition. When the coalition failed in April 1999, Congress was unable to form an alternative government and elections were announced for late 1999. In May Gandhi was elected party president despite her foreign origins and lack of political experience. The performance of Congress in the 1999 election was its worst ever since independence, winning only 136 of the 543 elected seats. Gandhi agreed to lead the opposition in the new parliament.

In state assembly elections held in November 2003 the party lost three of the four contested states to the BJP—Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. However, at the general elections held in May 2004, Congress recorded a surprise victory, winning 145 seats to the BJP’s 138. BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee stepped down as prime minister and was replaced by former finance minister Manmohan Singh, after party leader Sonia Gandhi turned down the position. A Congress-led coalition (the United Progressive Alliance), incorporating the National Congress Party (NCP) and a number of regional parties including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and backed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) and the smaller Communist Party of India (CPI), formed the government.