As Mallikarjun Kharge becomes party chief, a look at crucial Congress elections from the past

The Indian National Congress Presidential elections of this year were much hyped naturally because the party often alleged of “dynasty politics” witnessed two contenders, neither of whom belonged to the Gandhi family.

In the wake of Mallikarjun Kharge’s victory as the first non-Gandhi Congress President in more than two decades, it is worth revisiting the history of Congress presidential elections and the historical impact they have had on the nation’s political history. 

Subhash Chandra Bose vs Dr Pattabhi Sitaramayya (1939) proved how Mahatma Gandhi indirectly affected electoral politics:

Giving up his prestigious civil services job, Subhash Chandra Bose alligned himself with Mahatma Gandhi’s cause of nationalism and joined the Congress in 1921. Supporting Jawaharlal Nehru’s larger emphasis on socialism rather than mere constitutional reforms, Bose acquired influence in the party even serving as Congress President in 1938. 

The next year, when it came to reelection, Bose wished to run for the office again. Mahatma Gandhi, who was not directly involved in Congress’s politics at the time, still tried using his influence to sway Nehru to be Bose’s contender. The only time that Gandhi had served as Congress President was in 1924. 

Nehru however advanced Maulan Abul Kalam Azad instead who too rejected later on. It is understandable why Gandhi was intent on defeating Bose given their ideological differences.

While Gandhi has become synonymous with ahimsa (non-violence), Bose had a more adjusting attitude towards violence as a means to acquire freedom. After all, it was the Bengali leader who went on to found the Indian National Army. 

With Congress heavyweights like Nehru and Azad backing out from the race, Gandhi advanced the Andhra leader Dr Pattabhi Sitaramayya (relatively a newcomer then) as Bose’s opponent. Ultimately, the 1939 Congress session at Tripura found Bose winning by 1,580 votes while Pattabhi acquired 1,377 votes.

Bose’s popularity and eventual victory angered the usually-saintly Gandhi. To quote the man himself, 

Bose might have won but it is worth noting that several members of the Congress Working Committee back then were ardent followers of Gandhi. Increasing dissatisfaction against Bose’s ease of rejecting principles of non-violence made matters difficult for the Congress president with him resigning a month after his victory. Dr Rajendra Prasad filled his shoes while Bose went on to become the founder and first president of his own left-wing nationalist outfit All India Forward Bloc. 

Hence, the 1939 elections for two major reasons: it sent Bose on a totally different political (and eventually militaristic) path while also showing how Mahatma Gandhi’s political influence held sway despite him not being the President himself. 

Purushottam Das Tandon vs Acharya Kriplani (1950) saw a right-wing stalwart leading Congress, much to the dismay of Nehru:

Hailing from Allahabad (now Prayagraj), freedom fighter Purushottam Das Tandon had always been a strong proponent for making Hindi the national language of India ever since the country attained independence. While he tried to run for the Congress president elections in 1948, he lost to the aforementioned Pattabhi Sitaramayya. He tried his shot again in 1950 securing a victory over Acharya Kriplani. 

Then serving as Prime Minister, Nehru welcomed the decision but was apprehensive of the public image of Congress after Das’s win. An outspoken conservative with the support of right-wing Hindu nationalists, Nehru feared how this leadership might affect the secularism of the Congress (and by virtue the Central Government) which he was trying so hard to cherish. 

Internal conflicts with Nehru eventually drove Tandon to resign from his post on the eve of the 1952 general elections with Nehru himself taking charge of the Congress presidency for the next two years. 

Nehru’s influence within the party was already established in the pre-Independence times but this influence only got strengthened further in the 1950s. 

Sonia Gandhi vs Jitendra Prasada (2000) marked a new Congress era, for better and for worse:

Keeping a low profile during the time when her husband was PM, Congress members insisted Sonia Gandhi to join active politics ever since Rajiv Gandhi passed away. Initially repulsive, she eventually joined Congress in 1997. 

In November 2000, she contested in the party elections against Jitendra Prasada who had previously served as a political advisor to Rajiv Gandhi and PV Narasimha Rao during their respective PM tenures. The result was an easy victory for Sonia Gandhi. 

Her ascension to party president was crucial as it was in her term that Congress (particularly the United Progress Alliance) witnessed winning results in the 2004 and 2009 general elections. Since the BJP-led NDA rose to power in 2014, Gandhi still stuck on to her position with the president elections happening only in name. With a tenure of over twenty years from 1998 to 2017, her tenure was later met with negative reactions in general by cynics who accused her influence of being another manifestation of Congress’s dynasty politics.

Her son Rahul Gandhi served as her successor only to resign from the party president post in 2019. Sonia Gandhi has been the interim president since then. Kharge’s victory from today marks a watershed moment in the 21st century affairs of Congress, the repercussions of which will be seen in the coming future.