Congress Presidential Polls: Non-Gandhis Who Became Party Chiefs Before Sonia Gandhi

All eyes are on the Congress top leadership as the nation awaits the All India Congress Committee presidential polls scheduled to be held today, in a step that could hint at a massive overhaul of the party’s internal functioning and its possible revival in India’s current political landscape.

What makes the election significant is that it will be the first time in 25 years that a Congress leader not belonging to the Gandhi family will become party chief.  The upcoming polls would undoubtedly be historic as the new president would replace Sonia Gandhi, the longest-serving party president who has been at the helm since 1998, barring the two years between 2017 and 2019 when Rahul Gandhi took over. Gandhi had defeated Jitendra Prasada in 2000 to become the Congress president.

While the Congress President's post has been held by many over its 137 years of existence, there have only been five elections through an electoral contest for the position before. This is the sixth time that the party is having internal elections for its president after 1939, 1950, 1997 and 2000. 

The Gandhis have dominated the Presidency, many senior leaders from non-Gandhi or Nehru backgrounds have served as the party's chief. 

In 1947, Acharya Kriplani was the president and oversaw the tough transition of India from a brotish colony to a free nation. After him, Sitaramayya assumed office as party chief post-independence in 1948-49. In 1950, Tandon became chief following which Nehru served as the party chief between 1951 and 1955. Nehru left the post of Congress president in 1955 and UN Dhebar took over the reins of the party.

Indira Gandhi was the Congress president in 1959, followed by N S Reddy who remained at the helm till 1963.

K Kamraj was president of the Congress in 1964-67. Called the 'Kingmaker", Kamaraj was instrumental in making Lal Bahadur Shastri the Prime Minister after Nehru’s death in 1964 and then Indira Gandhi in 1966. 

while S Nijalingappa was the Congress president in 1968-69.

Jagjivan Ram became the Congress president in 1970-71 and then Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma was the Congress president from 1972-74. Devkant Barua was the Congress president from 1975-77.

From 1977-78, K Brahmananda Reddy was the president.

Indira Gandhi again became the Congress president and held the reins of the party from 1978-1984. From 1985 to 1991 after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, her son Rajiv Gandhi was the Congress president. Between 1992 and 1996, P V Narasimha Rao was the Congress president. 

Kesri assumed the presidency after that and was replaced by Sonia Gandhi in 1998. She remained at the helm till 2017, when Rahul Gandhi became president. Sonia Gandhi returned as interim chief in 2019 after Rahul Gandhi resigned following the Lok Sabha polls debacle.

Here’s a complete list of Congress Presidents who did not have Gandhi or Nehru affiliations since 1947:

J.B. Kripalani – 1947
 
Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya - 1948–1949
 
Purushottam Das Tandon - 1950
 
U N Dhebar - 1955-59
 
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy - 1960-63
 
K. Kamaraj - 1964-67
 
S. Nijalingappa - 1968-69 
 
Jagjivan Ram - 1970-71
 
Shankar Dayal Sharma - 1972-74
 
Devakanta Barua - 1975-77
 
Kasu Brahmananda Reddy - 1977–78
 
P. V. Narasimha Rao - 1992-96 
 
Sitaram Kesri - 1996-98

With today’s elections where Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor, will be up against veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress will soon welcome a non-Gandhi family at its top commanding post after nearly 25 years.  

(With inputs from PTI)