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UPPCS Modern History Gap Sheet: Congress Sessions and Presidents.
UPPCS has asked 40 of these. 10 have not been asked yet. Lock the first list, then read the second: it holds what UPPCS has not used yet.
First, the concept
The Congress met once a year, in late December, in a different city each time. A session is remembered for one of three things: its president, a 'first', or the resolution it passed.
Firsts to hold: first Muslim president Badruddin Tyabji (1887), first English George Yule (1888), first woman Annie Besant (1917), first Indian woman Sarojini Naidu (1925), youngest Abul Kalam Azad (1923, special).
✅ Already asked (40)
The early years (1885–1905)
- 1885 Bombay: W. C. Bonnerjee · 72 delegates; Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College; A. O. Hume founder
- 1886 Calcutta: Dadabhai Naoroji · He presided again in 1893 and 1906
- 1887 Madras: Badruddin Tyabji · First Muslim president
- 1888 Allahabad: George Yule · First English president
- 1889 Bombay: William Wedderburn · Presided again in 1910
- 1890 Calcutta: Pherozeshah Mehta · 'Lion of Bombay'
- 1894 Madras: Alfred Webb · Irish MP
- 1895 Poona and 1902 Ahmedabad: Surendranath Banerjee · Founder of the Indian Association
- 1896 Calcutta: Rahimtulla Sayani · 'Vande Mataram' first sung at a Congress session
- 1897 Amraoti: C. Sankaran Nair · Only Malayali president
- 1898 Madras: Ananda Mohan Bose · Co-founder of the Indian Association
- 1899 Lucknow: Romesh Chunder Dutt · Author of 'Economic History of India'
- 1901 Calcutta: D. E. Wacha · Gandhi attended for the first time
- 1904 Bombay: Henry Cotton · Former ICS officer
- 1905 Banaras: Gopal Krishna Gokhale · Backed Swadeshi in Bengal
Split and reunion (1906–1918)
- 1906 Calcutta: Dadabhai Naoroji · 'Swaraj' declared the goal; Swadeshi, Boycott, National Education
- 1907 Surat: Rash Behari Ghosh · The Congress split into Moderates and Extremists
- 1909 Lahore: Madan Mohan Malaviya · Also president in 1918 and 1932
- 1911 Calcutta: Bishan Narayan Dar · 'Jana Gana Mana' first sung
- 1912 Bankipur: R. N. Mudholkar · Bankipur is in Patna
- 1916 Lucknow: Ambika Charan Majumdar · Moderates and Extremists reunited; Lucknow Pact with the Muslim League
- 1917 Calcutta: Annie Besant · First woman president
- 1918 Bombay (special): Syed Hasan Imam · Discussed the Montagu-Chelmsford proposals
The Gandhian years (1919–1946)
- 1919 Amritsar: Motilal Nehru · Held after Jallianwala Bagh
- 1920 Calcutta (special): Lala Lajpat Rai · Non-Cooperation resolution passed
- 1920 Nagpur: C. Vijayaraghavachariar · Non-Cooperation confirmed; Congress committees by language
- 1921 Ahmedabad: Hakim Ajmal Khan (acting) · C. R. Das, the elected president, was in jail
- 1922 Gaya: C. R. Das · Council-entry debate; Swaraj Party followed
- 1924 Belgaum: Mahatma Gandhi · The only session Gandhi presided over
- 1925 Kanpur: Sarojini Naidu · First Indian woman president
- 1927 Madras: M. A. Ansari · Boycott of the Simon Commission; first call for independence
- 1928 Calcutta: Motilal Nehru · Nehru Report debated; dominion status in one year or else
- 1929 Lahore: Jawaharlal Nehru · Purna Swaraj; 26 January 1930 observed as Independence Day
- 1931 Karachi: Vallabhbhai Patel · Resolution on Fundamental Rights and the economic programme; endorsed the Gandhi-Irwin Pact
- 1934 Bombay: Rajendra Prasad · He took over again at Tripuri in 1939
- 1936 Faizpur: Jawaharlal Nehru · First session held in a village
- 1938 Haripura: Subhas Chandra Bose · National Planning Committee set up under Nehru
- 1939 Tripuri: Subhas Chandra Bose · Beat Pattabhi Sitaramayya, then resigned; formed the Forward Bloc
- 1940 Ramgarh: Abul Kalam Azad · He stayed president till 1946
- 1946 Meerut: J. B. Kripalani · President when India became free
❌ Not asked yet (10)
Items marked 'asked in other exams' have come in UPSC or other state exams, not yet in UPPCS.
🔒 10 items not asked yet
The early years (1885–1905): 3 · Split and reunion (1906–1918): 3 · The Gandhian years (1919–1946): 4
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⚠️ Annie Besant (1917) was the first woman president; Sarojini Naidu (1925) the first Indian woman. Gandhi presided only once, at Belgaum (1924). Purna Swaraj came at Lahore (1929); Fundamental Rights at Karachi (1931).
'Asked' and 'not asked' are checked against every UPPCS question on this site. 'Not asked yet' does not mean it will surely come.