NEW DELHI: As the Congress gears up for Tuesday’s All India Congress Committee (AICC) session in Ahmedabad, it will focus on strengthening the party organisationally and reviving its past glory. Tracing the party’s long-standing connection with Gujarat, AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said that the session on April 8-9 will be the party’s sixth in the state and the second post-independence.
The session will be themed “Nyaypath: Sankalp, Samarpan and Sangharsh,” and more than 1,700 elected and co-opted AICC members will attend the main conclave on April 9. On April 8, the extended Congress Working Committee will meet at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Memorial.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s party presidency and the 150th birth anniversary of Patel, both iconic figures born in Gujarat. It will also be the Congress’s third session in Ahmedabad since its formation in 1885. In a post on X, Ramesh shared the official records of the past sessions held in Gujarat, which shed light on the historic presidential addresses at the sessions from Surendranath Banerjee in 1902, who talked about autocratic power being devoid of the elements of permanence, to Subhas Chandra Bose in 1938, who dismissed as “entirely erroneous” the argument that the Congress should wither away after independence.
The Congress first met in Gujarat at Ahmedabad from December 23 to 26, 1902, under Banerjee’s presidency. In his long presidential address that touched upon several issues, Banerjee had said, “All history proclaims the truth that autocratic power is devoid of the elements of permanence and that authority to be permanent must be planted deep in the affections of the people and derive its sustaining breath from the vitalising springs of popular enthusiasm.” “Despotic rule represents a stage of transition, the period of which should not be unnecessarily prolonged. But transition must give place to permanence. All signs point to the conclusion that the period of reconstruction has now arrived,” he said.
A total of 471 delegates attended the session. The second time the Congress met in Gujarat was at Surat from December 26 to 27, 1907, under the presidentship of Rash Behary Ghose. This session was historic as it witnessed the first split in the party and was marked by internal tensions among the moderate and extremist factions. Around 1,600 delegates attended it.
At the 23rd session of the Congress at Surat, the moderate and extremist factions clashed, resulting in the party’s first split. The third time the Congress met in Gujarat was again at Ahmedabad during December 27-28, 1921 under the presidentship of Hakim Ajmal Khan.
Land of Gandhi and Patel
This year marks the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s party presidency and the 150th birth anniversary of Patel, both iconic figures born in Gujarat. It will also be the Congress’s third session in Ahmedabad since its formation in 1885.
First meet in Gujarat in 1902
Congress first met in Gujarat at Ahmedabad from Dec 23 to 26, 1902, under Surendranath Banerjee’s presidency. In his presidential address that touched upon several issues, Banerjee had said, “All history proclaims the truth that autocratic power is devoid of elements of permanence and that authority to be permanent must be planted deep in the affections of the people.”