No question of Congress withering away after freedom: Bose at party’s 1938 Haripura session

New Delhi: The Congress has had a historical connection with Gujarat as its stalwarts, Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel, hailed from there and the party has held five of its sessions in the state, with each of those contributing in shaping the country’s history.

The upcoming All India Congress Committee (AICC) session in Ahmedabad on April 8-9 will be the party’s sixth in the state and the second post independence.

It will also be the Congress’s third session in Ahmedabad since its formation in 1885.

A couple of days before the session, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh put out on X the official records of the past sessions held in Gujarat.

The records throw light on the historic presidential addresses at the sessions, from Surendranath Banerjee in 1902 talking about autocratic power being devoid of the elements of permanence to Subhas Chandra Bose in 1938 dismissing as “entirely erroneous” the argument that the Congress should wither away after independence.

The Congress first met in Gujarat at Ahmedabad during December 23-26, 1902 under Banerjee’s presidentship.

In his long presidential address that touched upon a number of 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.”

A total of 471 delegates had attended the session.

The second time the Congress met in Gujarat was at Surat during December 26-27, 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 had attended the Surat session.

The third time the Congress met in Gujarat was again at Ahmedabad during December 27-28, 1921 under the presidentship of Hakim Ajmal Khan.

A total of 4,728 delegates attended the session. While Khan was the president, Motilal Nehru, C Rajagopalachari and M A Ansari were the general secretaries.

The Congress met in Gujarat for a fourth time at Haripura during February 19-21, 1938 under the presidentship of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. This was a historic session for many reasons, including Bose assuming the presidency of the party for the first time.

It was in his presidential address that Bose had talked about the idea of having a commission for planning and famously spoken about the role of the Congress post independence.

“I know that there are friends who think that after freedom is won, the Congress party, having achieved its objective, should wither away. Such a conception is entirely erroneous. The party that wins freedom for India should also be the party that will put into effect the entire programme of post-war reconstruction,” Bose had said in his presidential address.

“Only those who have won power can handle it properly. If other people are pitchforked into seats of power, which they were not responsible for capturing, they will lack that strength, confidence and idealism which is indispensable for revolutionary reconstruction,” he had said. In his presidential address, Bose had also talked about having a planning commission.