HISTORY OF INDIA: Formation of Indian National Congress (1885)

Indian National Congress Formation: After the revolt of 1857, the living of Indians became hell in their own country and there was no hope for any kind of freedom from the Britishers.

At the same time, the Britishers were taking every possible precaution to uphold their rule over India to mould the history of India.

Formation of parties in 19th century

In the 19th century, various parties were formed to tackle national-level issues and to be the voice of the people of the nation. Some of them are-

• Bombay Presidency Association

• Madras Mahajan Sabha

• Indian Association

But they ended up solving local issues which became a problem as we needed a party that can confront Britishers and put the public ideas to them.

Indian National Congress Formation: Harsh law passed by Britishers

During this time, Britishers passed various laws to suppress the Indians such as-

1. Vernacular Press Act of 1878 by Lytton- Under this law no newspaper was allowed to criticize British policies.

2. Army Act of 1878- Under which no Indian sepoy can have arms with them.

3. Ilbert Bill of 1884- This bill stated that the Indian judges can't pass verdicts on Britishers. This was the result of the "White Mutiny".

Indian National Congress Formation: INC formed in 1885

To tackle all the laws passed by the Britishers and to initiate a better living for the people of the Nation, Indian National Congress (INC) was formed in the year 1885.

The founder of INC was a retired British Civil Servant- Allan Octavian Hume and the co-founder of INC was Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee who was the 1st president of INC too.

There were two theories that formed the base of INC.

National Theory- This theory states that INC is responsible for the discussion of national issues with the Britishers.

Safety Valve Theory- This theory was for the betterment of Britishers. Under this, the INC was under a pact to intimate the Britishers about any revolution against them.

Indian National Congress Formation: Safety valve theory exposed

Lala Lajpat Rai was the first to know about this tactic of Britishers. He acknowledged the nation in a newspaper called "Young India" in 1916.

After this, a meeting was scheduled at Pune to discuss the working of INC. Later the venue was set to Bombay due to Cholera and 72 members attended the meeting constituted of lawyers and various literate personalities.

In late December of 1885 it was decided that every year at the end of December, a session of Congress would be held to solve the problems of the nation.