While the National Conference in Calcutta was going on, Indian National Congress, conceived on the same lines, was holding its first sitting at Bombay. The movements were simultaneous; the preliminary arrangements were made independently, neither part knowing what the other was doing until on the eve of the sittings of the Conference and of the Congress. The two conferences met about the same time, discussed similar views and voiced the same grievances and aspirations.

Pattabhi Sitaramayya, the official historian of Indian National Congress says that it still is a mystery that originated the idea of an All India Congress. It is also said that the idea was conceived in a private meeting of seventeen men after Theosophical Convention held at Madras in December 1884.The Indian Union started by Mr. Hume after his retirement from the Civil Service is also supposed to have been instrumental in convening the Congress. Another explanation is that Nirmal Chaterjee stating that, "The Congress was founded as a precautionary move against an apprehended Russian invasion of India".

It was usually with the British Rulers to blow hot and cold at the same time. They were afraid of both foreign menace and internal violence on guerilla methods. The constitutional agitation has to be always supported by overtly or covertly inspired revolutionary agitation. This view is corroborated by the manner of quitting India in 1947.The external pressure generated by the result of the Second World War together with the discontent in the army exemplified by the marine revolt in 1944-45 hastened their departure.

The Indian National Congress founded by Hume in 1885 became the main channel of voicing the political grievances of the Indian people.

Pre Independence Era
Mahatma Gandhi was the unofficial spiritual leader of the party after First World War. The party was in many ways an umbrella organization, sheltering within itself radical socialists, traditionalists and even Hindu and Muslim conservatives.it was founded with the objective of obtaining A greater share in government for educated Indians. Scotsman, Allan Octavian Hume, brought about its first meeting in Bombay, with the approval of Lord Dufferin, the then-Viceroy. Womesh Chandra Bonerjee was the first President of the INC.

The first meeting was scheduled to be held in Pune but due to a plague breakout there, the meeting was later shifted to Mumbai. So the first Session of INC was held from 28-31 December 1885, and was attended by 72 delegates. The demands of INC became more radical in the face of constant opposition from the government, and the party became very active in the independence movement. By 1907 the party was split into two halves: the Garam Dal of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, or Extremists (literally "hot faction"), and the Naram Dal of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, or Moderates (literally "soft faction"), distinguished by their attitude towards the British.

Before the Gandhi Era came leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Mohammed Ali Jinnah all starting with the first legendary icon of Indians: Dadabhai Naoroji, the president of the sister Indian National Association and later Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons, the first Indian to win a seat there.

Although predominantly Hindu, it had members from virtually every religion, ethnic group, economic class and linguistic group. At the time of the Quit India movement, the Congress was undoubtedly the strongest political and revolutionary organization in India. The Indian National Congress could claim to be the true representative of the Indian people. The 1929 Lahore session under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru holds special significance as in this session "Poorna Swaraj" was declared as the goal of INC. 26 January 1930 was declared as the "Poorna Swaraj Diwas". It was to commemorate this date particularly that The Indian Constitution was formally adopted on 26 January 1950(even though it was passed on 26 November 1949).

Post Independence Era
The party remained in power for thirty continuous years between independence in 1947 and its first taste of electoral defeat (at the national level) in 1977.

Jawaharlal Nehru
Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel are said to have held the view that the INC was formed only for achieving independence and should have been disbanded in 1947.However, at the time of independence, the INC (led by Jawaharlal Nehru) was a major political organization in the country, and was established as the major political party. The Congress thus, considering the perceived need for a stable leadership and guiding vision after the terrible chaos and confusion following the Partition of India and Independence, was re-established as an electoral party in independent India. Across several general elections, the party ruled uninterrupted until 1977, and has remained a major political force.

Nehru embraced secularism, socialist economic policies and a non-aligned foreign policy, which became the hallmark of the modern Congress Party. Nehru`s policies challenged the landed class, the business class and improved the position of religious minorities and lower caste Hindus. A generation of freedom fighting leaders were soon replaced by a generation of people who had grown up in the shadow of Nehru. Nehru led the Congress Party to consecutively awesome majorities in the elections of 1952, 1957 and 1962.

Indira Gandhi
The first serious challenge to Congress hegemony came in 1967 when a united opposition, under the banner of Samyukt Vidhanayak Dal, won control over several states in the Hindi belt. Indira Gandhi, the daughter of Nehru, and Congress president, was then challenged by the majority of the party leadership. The conflict led to a split, and Indira launched a separate INC. Initially this party was known as Congress (R), but it soon came to be generally known as the New Congress. The official party became known as Indian National Congress (Organisation) led by Kamaraj. It was informally called the Old Congress. As Indira had control over the state machinery, her faction was recognized as the "real" INC by the Election Commission of India, although her organization was the break-away group.

Gradually, Indira Gandhi grew more and more authoritarian. Following allegations of widespread rigging in the general elections, a court overturned Indira Gandhi`s victory in the Parliamentary constituency. Facing growing opposition she proclaimed a state of National emergency in 1975, curtailed the powers of the courts, and unleashed a police s After she lifted the emergency in 1977, more Congress factions were formed, the one remaining loyal to Indira Gandhi being popularly known as Congress(I) with an `I` for Indira. The Congress (I) was routed in the general elections by the Janata Party. The party was able to return to power in the 1980 elections.tate with herself as the supreme leader (`acting Prime Minister`).

Post-Indira Era
After Indira, her son Rajiv Gandhi, took over as Congress leader and led the party to victory with a large majority in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections. It governed from 1984-9 and then was defeated in the 1989 general election. Rajiv Gandhi was also assassinated by the LTTE during the course of the election campaign in 1991. Following Rajiv Gandhi`s assassination, P.V. Narasimha Rao succeeded him as Congress leader and became prime minister.Nonetheless, his involvement in the bribery of members of parliament was a major issue which led to the downfall of the Congress in 1996, and subsequently his own disgraced exit from politics. Sitaram Kesri took over the reins of the party and oversaw the Congress support to the United Front governments than ran from 1996 - 1998. During his tenure, several key leaders broke away from the party, and serious infighting broke out among those left. In 1998, Sonia Gandhi is considered by some to have finally saved the Congress from extinction by accepting the presidency of the party.