The first president of the Indian National Congress was Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee (also spelled W.C. Banerjee). He presided over the first session of the Indian National Congress held in Bombay (now Mumbai) in December 1885.

The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885 by Allan Octavian Hume (A.O. Hume), a retired British civil servant, along with Indian leaders. While A.O. Hume played a crucial role as the founder and general secretary, he was never the president of the Congress.

Sarojini Naidu served as president much later (in 1925), and Mahatma Gandhi, though a central figure in the freedom movement, never held the position of Congress president.

Related Topics

Formation of Indian National Congress: The INC was established in 1885 as a platform for educated Indians to voice their political and economic grievances against British colonial rule. It initially functioned as a moderate organization seeking reforms through constitutional means.

Early Nationalist Movement: The early phase (1885-1905) is known as the Moderate Phase, where leaders focused on petitions, prayers, and protests within the framework of British law.

Key Figures

W.C. Banerjee: A prominent lawyer from Calcutta who became the first president and later served as president again in 1892.

A.O. Hume: The British civil servant who conceived the idea of the Indian National Congress and served as its first General Secretary.