JB Kripalani To Sonia Gandhi: List Of Congress Presidents Since 1947

Outgoing president Sonia Gandhi has held the post for the longest time since 1997, beating even Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. A look at Congress leaders who become the party president after Independence. 

The All India Congress Committee is electing its new president on Monday. An electoral contest taking place for the selection and two senior leaders Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge are contesting. The election is important as the winner will be the first non-Gandhi Congress president after 24 years. Since 1998, the party has been led by Sonia Gandhi, barring a period of two years from 2017 to 2019 when Rahul Gandhi had been selected for the post. The party has, however, seen many non-Gandhis in the past.

While Sitaram Kesri was the last president who was not from the Gandhi family, others who led the party in the past included Narasimha Rao, K Kamaraj and Shankar Dayal Sharma. 

Outgoing president Sonia Gandhi has held the post for the longest time since 1997, beating even Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Here is a look at the Congress leaders who had become the party president after Independence. 

JB Kripalani: 1947

Acharya Kripalani was the Congress president when the transfer of power took place as India became independent in 1947. He suffered a defeat in the party election in 1950, after which he left Congress. 

Pattabhi Sitaramayya: 1948-49

Pattabhi Sitaramayya became the Congress president with Jawaharlal Nehru's support. He later became the Governor of Madhya Pradesh from 1952-57. 

Purushottam Das Tandon - 1950

A Bharat Ratna awardee, Tandon won against Kripalani in the 1950 elections, but soon resigned from the post because of differences he had with Nehru. Tandon was a Lok Sabha MP in 1952 and was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1956. He was also instrumental in making sure that Hindi received official language status.

Jawaharlal Nehru - 1951-54

The first Prime Minister of India was the president of the Congress when they dominated state and national elections, winning in 1951, 1957 and 1962.

UN Dhebar - 1955-59

UN Dhebar held a four-year term as Congress president after he served as the Chief Minister of Saurashtra from 1948-54. In 1962, Dhebar was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rajkot.

Indira Gandhi - 1959, 1966-67, 1978-84

Indira Gandhi held the post for three non-consecutive terms. She was first elected president of the Indian National Congress in 1959. In the Congress Party's parliamentary leadership election held in early 1966, upon the death of Shastri, she defeated her rival Morarji Desai to become the leader. Her second term was aided by Kamaraj’s support. Her third term was more significant as not only were they her last years, but they began right after the Emergency that she had been instrumental in imposing. Since Gandhi had lost her seat in the election, the defeated Congress party appointed Yashwantrao Chavan as their parliamentary party leader. Soon afterwards, the Congress party split again with Gandhi floating her own Congress faction. 

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy - 1960-63

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy served as the Congress president thrice at its Bangalore, Bhavnagar and Patna sessions held in the period from 1960 to 1962. He served as Union Minister in the Lal Bahadur Shastri government in 1964 and from January 1966 to March 1967 he was part of Indira Gandhi's Cabinet. In 1967 he became the Lok Sabha Speaker and he resigned from the party. In 1975, as a Janata Party candidate, he won the Lok Sabha election and was elected as Speaker. He resigned from his post in 17 days to become the President.

K Kamaraj - 1964-67

Kumaraswami Kamaraj served as the president of the Indian National Congress for two terms between 1964–1967. He was known as the ‘Kingmaker’ in political circles in the 1960s. He was responsible for Lal Bahadur Shastri’s appointment as Prime Minister after Nehru's death and Indira Gandhi's ascendance as PM after Shastri. The third Chief Minister of Madras State (Tamil Nadu), he was the leader of the Congress (O) when the party split up after Indira Gandhi's elevation to the Congress president post.

S Nijalingappa - 1968-69

Siddavanahalli Nijalingappa became president of the All India Congress Committee in 1968. He became the Congress President when people had expressed distrust in the 1967 elections. He chaired two Congress sessions in 1968 and 1969 held in Hyderabad and Faridabad respectively. Nijalingappa was the last President of the undivided Congress party.

Jagjivan Ram - 1970-71

Congress Party split in 1969 and Jagjivan Ram joined the camp led by Indira Gandhi. He became the president of the faction of Congress led by Indira Gandhi. He later went on to join the Janata Party. Later, he formed his own party, naming it Congress (J).

Shankar Dayal Sharma - 1972-74

Shankar Dayal Sharma, the ninth President of India, served as the President of the All India Congress Committee from 1972-1974. Sharma served as Governor of Andhra Pradesh (1984 to 1985), Punjab (1985-1986) and Maharashtra (1986-1987) before being elected as the eighth Vice President of India in 1987 under R Venkataraman. He was elected President of India in 1992 and served till 1997.

Devakanta Barua - 1975-77

Indian politician from Assam served as the President of the Indian National Congress during the Emergency from 1975–77. He is the first and only Assamese to be elected as president of the Indian National Congress. Known best for his proclamation, “India is Indira, Indira is India,” Barua parted ways with the party that was named as Indian Congress (Socialist).

Rajiv Gandhi - 1985-91

Taking over the reins of the party after Indira Gandhi’s assassination, Rajiv Gandhi remained the Congress president until his assassination in 1991.

PV Narasimha Rao - 1992-96

During his tenure as the Prime Minister of India, PV Narasimha Rao also carried out the duties of Congress president. He became the prime minister after Congress won the largest number of seats in the 1991 Lok Sabha polls, held after the assassination of Congress President Rajiv Gandhi. After defeat in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections, Rao stepped down as Party President. He was replaced by Sitaram Kesri.

Sitaram Kesri - 1996-98

In September 1996 Sitaram Kesri was appointed as the new president of the Indian National Congress. Kesri's most controversial act was the sudden withdrawal of support to HD Deva Gowda's United Front government, which led to its fall in April 1997. However, after deliberations, a compromise was reached and the United Front elected IK Gujral as the new leader with continued support from Congress. He was removed from his post after the party’s electoral defeat in 1998.

Sonia Gandhi - 1998-2017, 2019-2022

Sonia Gandhi held the Congress president’s post for the longest period of time. Her presidency saw the Congress win two subsequent elections in 2004 and 2009, and a loss to the BJP in 2014 in the Lok Sabha. She was again reappointed as the interim president after Rahul Gandhi resigned from the post. 

Rahul Gandhi - 2017-2019

Rahul Gandhi served as the president of the Indian National Congress from December 16, 2017, to July 3, 2019. He resigned from the post after Congress was routed in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.