President of the Indian National Congress

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The President of the All India Congress Committee, and therefore of the Indian National Congress Party (INC) as a whole, is known as the Congress President.

History

Traditionally, the post rotated between prominent members of the party, successive terms for the same person being frowned upon. During Nehru's premiership, he rarely held the Presidency of INC, even though he was always head of the Legislative Party.

Indira Gandhi however, institutionalised the practice of having the same person as the President as the Prime Minister after the first Congress split of 1969. Her son Rajiv Gandhi continued that practice. He was the INC President and the Prime Minister.

Narasimha Rao, too held both the Congress President and the Prime Minister's post. Sitaram Kesri held the post after INC was voted out. But as the INC never returned to power under his leadership, he didn't hold the two posts together.

In 2004, when the INC was voted back Dr Manmohan Singh became the first INC Prime Minister, not to be the INC President since the practice began. Sonia Gandhi is the current Congress President, but not Prime Minister.

List of presidents of the party

Name of President		Life Span	Year of Presidency	Place of Conference
Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee		December 29, 1844–1906	1885	Bombay
Dadabhai Naoroji		September 4, 1825–1917	1886	Calcutta
Badaruddin Taiyabji		October 10, 1844–1906	1887	Madras
George Yule		1829–1892	1888	Allahabad
Sir William Wedderburn		1838–1918	1889	Bombay
Sir Pherozeshah Mehta		August 4, 1845–1915	1890	Calcutta
Anandacharlu		August 1843- 1908	1891	Nagpur
Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee		December 29, 1844–1906	1892	Allahabad
Dadabhai Naoroji		September 4, 1848–1925	1893	Lahore
Alfred Webb		1834–1908	1894	Madras
Surendranath Banerjee		November 10, 1848–1925	1895	Poona
Rahimtulla M. Sayani		April 5, 1847–1902	1896	Calcutta
Sir C. Sankaran Nair		July 11, 1857–1934	1897	Amraoti
Anandamohan Bose		September 23, 1847–1906	1898	Madras
Romesh Chunder Dutt		August 13, 1848–1909	1899	Lucknow
Sir Narayan Ganesh Chandavarkar		December 2, 1855–1923	1900	Lahore
Sir Dinshaw Edulji Wacha		August 2, 1844–1936	1901	Calcutta
Surendranath Banerjee		November 10, 1825–1917	1902	Ahmedabad
Lalmohan Ghosh		1848–1909	1903	Madras
Sir Henry Cotton		1845–1915	1904	Bombay
Gopal Krishna Gokhale		May 9, 1866–1915	1905	Benares
Dadabhai Naoroji		September 4, 1825–1917	1906	Calcutta
Rashbihari Ghosh		December 23, 1845–1921	1907	Surat
Rashbihari Ghosh		December 23, 1845–1921	1908	Madras
Madan Mohan Malaviya		December 25, 1861–1946	1909	Lahore
Sir William Wedderburn		1838–1918	1910	Allahabad
Pandit Bishan Narayan Dar		1864–1916	1911	Calcutta
Raghunath Narasinha Mudholkar		1857–1921	1912	Bankipur
Nawab Syed Muhammad Bahadur		?- 1919	1913	Karachi
Bhupendra Nath Bose		1859–1924	1914	Madras
Lord Satyendra Prasanna Sinha		March 1863- 1928	1915	Bombay
Ambica Charan Mazumdar		1850–1922	1916	Lucknow
Annie Besant		October 1, 1847–1933	1917	Calcutta
Madan Mohan Malaviya		December 25, 1861–1946	1918	Delhi
Syed Hasan Imam		August 31, 1871–1933	1918	Bombay (Special Session)
Pandit Motilal Nehru		May 6, 1861- February 6, 1931	1919	Amritsar
Lala Lajpat Rai		January 28, 1865- November 17, 1928	1920	Calcutta (Special Session)
C. Vijayaraghavachariar		1852- April 19, 1944	1920	Nagpur
Hakim Ajmal Khan		1863- December 29, 1927	1921	Ahmedabad
Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das		November 5, 1870- June 16, 1925	1922	Gaya
Maulana Mohammad Ali		December 10, 1878- January 4, 1931	1923	Kakinada
Abul Kalam Azad		1888- February 22, 1958	1923	Delhi (Special Session)
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi		October 2, 1869- January 30, 1948	1924	Belgaum
Sarojini Naidu		February 13, 1879- March 2, 1949	1925	Kanpur
S. Srinivasa Iyengar		September 11, 1874- May 19, 1941	1926	Gauhati
Dr. M A Ansari		December 25, 1880- May 10, 1936	1927	Madras
Pandit Motilal Nehru		May 6, 1861- February 6, 1931	1928	Calcutta
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru		November 14, 1889- May 27, 1964	1929 & 30	Lahore
Vallabhbhai Patel		October 31, 1875- December 15, 1950	1931	Karachi
Madan Mohan Malaviya		December 25, 1861–1946	1932	Delhi
Madan Mohan Malaviya		December 25, 1861–1946	1933	Calcutta
Nellie Sengupta		1886–1973	1933	Calcutta
Dr. Rajendra Prasad		December 3, 1884- February 28, 1963	1934 & 35	Bombay
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru		November 14, 1889- May 27, 1964	1936	Lucknow
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru		November 14, 1889- May 27, 1964	1936& 37	Faizpur
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose		January 23, 1897- ???	1938	Haripura
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose		January 23, 1897- ???	1939	Tripuri
Abul Kalam Azad		1888- February 22, 1958	1940-46	Ramgarh
Acharya J.B. Kripalani		1888- March 19, 1982	1947	Delhi
Dr Pattabhi Sitaraimayya		December 24, 1880- December 17, 1959	1948 & 49	Jaipur
Purushottam Das Tandon		August 1, 1882- July 1, 1961	1950	Nasik
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru		November 14, 1889- May 27, 1964	1951 & 52	Delhi
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru		November 14, 1889- May 27, 1964	1953	Hyderabad
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru		November 14, 1889- May 27, 1964	1954	Calcutta
U. N. Dhebar		September 21, 1905–1977	1955	Avadi
U. N. Dhebar		September 21, 1905–1977	1956	Amritsar
U. N. Dhebar		September 21, 1905–1977	1957	Indore
U. N. Dhebar		September 21, 1905–1977	1958	Gauhati
U. N. Dhebar		September 21, 1905–1977	1959	Nagpur
Indira Gandhi		November 19, 1917- October 31, 1984	1959	Delhi
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy		May 19, 1913- June 1, 1996	1960	Bangalore
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy		May 19, 1913- June 1, 1996	1961	Bhavnagar
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy		May 19, 1913- June 1, 1996	1962 & 63	Patna
K. Kamaraj		July 15, 1903- October 2, 1975	1964	Bhubaneswar
K. Kamaraj		July 15, 1903- October 2, 1975	1965	Durgapur
K. Kamaraj		July 15, 1903- October 2, 1975	1966 & 67	Jaipur
S. Nijalingappa		December 10, 1902- August 9, 2000	1968	Hyderabad
S. Nijalingappa		December 10, 1902- August 9, 2000	1969	Faridabad
Jagjivan Ram		April 5, 1908- July 6, 1986	1970 & 71	Bombay
Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma		August 19, 1918- December 26, 1999	1972- 74	Calcutta
Dev Kant Baruah		February 22, 1914–1996	1975- 77	Chandigarh
Indira Gandhi		November 19, 1917- October 31, 1984	1978- 83	Delhi
Indira Gandhi		November 19, 1917- October 31, 1984	1983 -84	Calcutta
Rajiv Gandhi		August 20, 1944- May 21, 1991	1985 -91	Bombay
P. V. Narasimha Rao		June 28, 1921- December 23, 2004	1992 -96	Tirupati
Sitaram Kesri		November 1919- October 24, 2000	1997 -98	Calcutta
Sonia Gandhi		December 9, 1946-	1998–present(2010)	Calcutta

External links

• Official Indian National Congress website