🤝 INC Sessions & Revolutionary Movement

Congress Sessions in UP — Why They Matter

The Indian National Congress (INC), founded in 1885, held several landmark sessions in Uttar Pradesh. These sessions shaped the direction of the national movement, forged alliances, and launched major campaigns. For the UPSSSC AGTA exam, knowing which sessions were held in UP and what they decided is essential.

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Lucknow Session — 1916

Detail	Fact
Year	1916
President	Ambika Charan Mazumdar
Key Outcome	Lucknow Pact (Congress-Muslim League agreement)

The Lucknow Pact

• The INC and the All India Muslim League held simultaneous sessions in Lucknow
• They signed a joint scheme of political reforms demanding self-governance
• Muhammad Ali Jinnah played a key role as mediator (he was then called the "Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity")
• The pact accepted separate electorates for Muslims as a compromise
• Congress was represented by moderates and extremists united after the Surat Split (1907) healed

This was the first formal political agreement between Congress and the Muslim League, marking a high point of Hindu-Muslim cooperation.

• Annie Besant's Home Rule League movement was at its peak during this session
• Bal Gangadhar Tilak re-entered the Congress mainstream at Lucknow

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Kanpur Session — 1925

Detail	Fact
Year	1925
President	Sarojini Naidu
Significance	First Indian woman president of the INC

• Sarojini Naidu was known as the "Nightingale of India"
• Her election as president was a landmark moment for women's participation in Indian politics
• The session focused on communal harmony and constructive programme
• It came in the backdrop of growing communal tensions across North India

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Lucknow Session — 1936

Detail	Fact
Year	1936
President	Jawaharlal Nehru
Key Outcome	Socialist agenda adopted, AIKS founded alongside

• Nehru used his presidential address to push a left-leaning, socialist programme
• He called for land reforms, nationalization of key industries, and workers' rights
• The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) was founded in Lucknow alongside this broader political moment (11 April 1936)
• Congress Socialist Party members gained significant influence
• This session set the ideological tone for the Congress leading up to independence

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Other INC Sessions Connected to UP

Session	Year	President	Key Fact
Allahabad	1888	George Yule	First non-Indian president of INC
Lucknow	1899	Romesh Chunder Dutt	Emphasized drain of wealth theory
Allahabad	1910	William Wedderburn	Moderate phase
Kanpur	1905	Gopal Krishna Gokhale	Swadeshi sentiment rising
Agra (AICC meeting)	1936	—	Planning for provincial elections

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Revolutionary Movement in UP

While the Congress worked through constitutional means, a parallel revolutionary movement operated underground. UP was an important centre of revolutionary activity.

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Mainpuri Conspiracy (1918)

Detail	Fact
Year	1918
Leader	Ram Prasad Bismil and Genda Lal Dixit
Location	Mainpuri district, UP
Action	Distribution of revolutionary literature and pamphlets to soldiers
Outcome	Bismil went underground; Genda Lal Dixit arrested

• Also known as the Mainpuri Dacoity Case
• Revolutionaries collected funds through dacoities (robberies) targeting British treasury
• Bismil distributed his poem "Mainpuri Ki Pratigya" (The Vow of Mainpuri) to inspire revolt
• This was Bismil's first major revolutionary action, five years before Kakori

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Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) — 1924

Detail	Fact
Founded	October 1924
Place	Kanpur, UP
Founders	Ram Prasad Bismil, Sachindra Nath Sanyal, Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee
Aim	Armed revolution to overthrow British rule and establish a federal republic

• The HRA was inspired by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) model
• Its manifesto, "The Revolutionary," was written by Sachindra Nath Sanyal
• After the Kakori case, the organization was reorganized as the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) in 1928 by Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh
• The name change reflected a shift toward socialist ideology

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Kakori Conspiracy (1925)

This was the most famous revolutionary action in UP and one of the most celebrated events in Indian revolutionary history.

Detail	Fact
Date	9 August 1925
Location	Near Kakori, between Shahjahanpur and Lucknow (on the 8-Down train)
Target	British government treasury being transported by train
Amount Looted	Approximately Rs 4,601 in cash and bags of silver

Key Participants

Name	Fate
Ram Prasad Bismil	Hanged, 19 Dec 1927, Gorakhpur
Ashfaqullah Khan	Hanged, 19 Dec 1927, Faizabad
Rajendra Lahiri	Hanged, 17 Dec 1927, Gonda
Roshan Singh	Hanged, 19 Dec 1927, Prayagraj
Sachindra Nath Bakshi	Life imprisonment
Chandrashekhar Azad	Escaped; never caught

The Trial

• The Kakori Conspiracy Case trial lasted 18 months
• British used it to crush the revolutionary movement by sentencing key leaders to death
• The trial generated enormous public sympathy for the revolutionaries
• Ram Prasad Bismil recited his verse "Sarfaroshi ki tamanna" before execution

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Anushilan Samiti Connections

The Anushilan Samiti, originally a Bengal-based revolutionary group (founded 1902), had networks extending into UP:

• Members operated in Varanasi, Allahabad, and Lucknow
• They helped establish arms supply chains for UP revolutionaries
• Sachindra Nath Sanyal (HRA founder) had Anushilan Samiti links
• The organization combined physical training (gymnastics, wrestling) with revolutionary ideology
• British intelligence classified UP-based Anushilan operatives as "most dangerous"

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Revolutionary Underground Network in UP

UP served as a logistics and safe-house corridor for revolutionaries from across India:

• Prayagraj (Allahabad): Base for Chandrashekhar Azad, printing presses for revolutionary literature
• Kanpur: HRA headquarters, industrial workers sympathized with revolutionaries
• Shahjahanpur: Home base of Bismil and Ashfaqullah Khan
• Varanasi: Student recruitment ground, Anushilan Samiti presence
• Lucknow: Congress-revolutionary coordination, safe houses

UP's dense railway network made it especially useful for revolutionary communication, travel, and underground coordination.

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Summary Cheat Sheet

Item	Key Fact
Lucknow 1916	Lucknow Pact, Congress-League agreement
Kanpur 1925	Sarojini Naidu, first Indian woman INC president
Lucknow 1936	Nehru president, socialist agenda, AIKS founded
Mainpuri Conspiracy	1918, Bismil + Genda Lal Dixit
HRA Founded	October 1924, Kanpur
Kakori Conspiracy	9 August 1925, Bismil, Ashfaqullah, Lahiri, Roshan Singh hanged
HSRA	1928 reorganization by Azad + Bhagat Singh
Azad's Death	27 February 1931, Alfred Park, Prayagraj