Indian National Congress: Formation and Moderate Phase
BPSC demand
Prepare year–place–president, leader–idea and demand–method pairs. The early Congress used constitutional methods: petitions, resolutions, speeches, deputations and public opinion; it did not begin as a mass civil-disobedience organisation.
Timeline
High-yield facts
| Item | Verified exam clue |
|---|---|
| Foundation | Indian National Congress, 1885, Bombay. |
| First president | Womesh Chandra (W. C.) Bonnerjee. |
| Key early leaders | Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta, Surendranath Banerjea, G. K. Gokhale, M. G. Ranade. |
| Economic critique | Dadabhai Naoroji is associated with the Drain Theory. |
| Method | Constitutional agitation and reasoned criticism of colonial policies. |
| Political demand | Representative institutions, enlarged councils and Indianisation of services. |
Careful distinctions
A. O. Hume helped convene the first session, but the Congress was an Indian political organisation with Indian delegates and W. C. Bonnerjee as its first president. “Safety-valve theory” is a historiographical interpretation, not an established fact to be used as the sole explanation for the Congress’s formation. Gokhale founded the Servants of India Society in 1905; it was not founded by the INC.