SSC
The first session of the Indian National Congress, held at Bombay in December 1885, was attended by how many delegates?
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Answer: Option A — 72
Detailed Solution
The first session of the Indian National Congress, held at Bombay from 28 to 31 December 1885, was attended by 72 delegates from different parts of India.
NCERT on the first session:
NCERT notes that the Indian National Congress was established when 72 delegates from all over the country met at Bombay in December 1885.
NCERT notes that the early leadership included Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta, Badruddin Tyabji, W. C. Bonnerjee, Surendranath Banerjea, Romesh Chunder Dutt and S. Subramania Iyer, and that they were mostly from Bombay and Calcutta.
About the delegates:
- Most of them were English-educated professionals: lawyers, teachers, journalists, doctors and merchants.
- They came from the Bombay, Madras and Bengal Presidencies, the North-Western Provinces, Punjab and other regions.
- Among them, there were only a few Muslims.
- Some government officials also attended as observers.
The session:
It was held at the Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, Bombay.
It passed nine resolutions, which included demands for:
- An inquiry into the working of the Indian administration by a Royal Commission.
- The abolition of the Council of the Secretary of State for India.
- The expansion of the Imperial and Provincial Legislative Councils, with elected members.
- Simultaneous examinations for the Indian Civil Service in England and India, and a higher age limit.
- A reduction in military expenditure.
Growth of the Congress:
- The number of delegates increased rapidly in later sessions; the second session had several hundred delegates.
- The Congress soon became the main platform of Indian nationalism.
NCERT on the early Congress:
- NCERT notes that the Congress in the first twenty years was "moderate" in its objectives and methods.
- It demanded a greater voice for Indians in the government and administration, and wanted the Legislative Councils to be made more representative.
- It also raised economic issues, such as the drain of wealth, the poverty of India and the need for industrial development.
Why not the other options?
- ✗100, 434 and 52 are not the number of delegates at the first session.
Quick tip
Remember: first Congress session (Bombay, 28-31 December 1885) = 72 delegates (NCERT); nine resolutions; mostly English-educated professionals.
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Indian National Congress & Its Sessions — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Indian National Congress & Its Sessions, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885 by A. O. Hume, and its first session was held in Bombay under W. C. Bonnerjee. This topic covers the important Congress sessions and their presidents, the moderate and extremist phases, the Surat split, and the founding and role of the Muslim League. Questions commonly ask who presided over a session, where a session was held, or what was decided there. For example, the 1929 Lahore session under Jawaharlal Nehru adopted the goal of Purna Swaraj, and the 1931 Karachi session passed the resolution on Fundamental Rights. The first woman president of the Congress was Annie Besant (Calcutta, 1917). Practise the Indian National Congress questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.