Kripalani To Kharge: The 18 Congress Presidents Since India's Independence

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. (Image Source: Indian National Congress)

Bhograju Pattabhi Sitaramaiya remained the Congress president from 1948 to 1949. He became the party chief after Jawaharlal Nehru's support. (Raj Bhavan, Madhya Pradesh)

Purushottam Das Tandon won the Congress chief post against Kripalani in the 1950 elections, but soon resigned from because of differences he had with Nehru. (Image Source: Indian National Congress)

Jawaharlal Nehru remained Congress president from 1951 to 1954. Under first Prime Minister, Congress dominated state and national elections, winning in 1951, 1957 and 1962. (Image Source: Getty)

UN Dhebar held the Congress president post for a four-year term from 1955 to 1959. He earlier had served as the Chief Minister of Saurashtra from 1948-54. (Image Source: loksabhaph.nic.in)

Indira Gandhi held the post for three non-consecutive terms. She was first elected president of the Indian National Congress in 1959. Then she held the post from 1966-67 and from 1978 to 1984. (Image Source: Getty)

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy served as the Congress president thrice at its Bangalore, Bhavnagar and Patna sessions held in the period from 1960 to 1962. (Image Source: Getty)

Known as the ‘Kingmaker’ in political circles in the 1960s, Kumaraswami Kamaraj served as the president of the Indian National Congress for two terms between 1964–1967. (Image Source: India Post, Government of India)

Siddavanahalli Nijalingappa became president of the All India Congress Committee in 1968. (Image Source: India Post, Government of India)

Congress Party split in 1969 and Jagjivan Ram joined the camp led by Indira Gandhi and became the party president in 1970. (Image courtesy: Getty)

Shankar Dayal Sharma served as the President of the All India Congress Committee from 1972-1974. (Image courtesy: AFP)

Devakanta Barua served as the President of the Indian National Congress during the Emergency from 1975–77. (Image courtesy: Wikimedia/Creative Commons)

Rajiv Gandhi took over the reins of Congress after Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 985. He remained the Congress president until his assassination in 1991. (Image Source: Getty)

PV Narasimha Rao carried out the duties of Congress president during his tenure as the Prime Minister of India, which is from 1992 to 1996. (Image Source: Getty)

In September 1996 Sitaram Kesri was appointed as the new president of the Indian National Congress. He was removed from his post after the party’s electoral defeat in 1998. (Image Source: AFP)

Sonia Gandhi held the Congress president’s post for the longest period of time. She remained at the helm of afafirs fo the party as chief from 1998 to 2017. Her presidency saw Congress win two subsequent Lok Sabha elections in 2004 and 2009, and a loss to the BJP in 2014 in the Lok Sabha polls. (Image Source: AFP)

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. (Image Source: PTI)

Mallikarjun Kharge became Congress President, 18th party chief since independence, on October 19, 2022. He won the Congress president poll defeating Shashi Tharoor. (Image Courtesy: PTI)