Question

What was the main aim of congress?
A. To promote and consolidate the feeling of National unity.
B. To formulate popular demands and present them before the government
C. To bring together leaders from different parts of the country
D. All of the above

Answer 1

Hint: In 1885 the Indian National Congress was founded in Bombay at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit college with 72 delegates. Hume became the general secretary of INC and Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee was elected as its president. Besides the Indian members, there were two additional British members namely, Justice John Jardine and Willian Wedderburn. Apart from this, the other members of INC were mostly Hindus from Madras and Bombay presidencies.

Complete answer: The establishment of Congress was preceded by several sub-National, regional and provisional organisations belonging to different parts of India. During that time organisations like British India Association, Bombay presidency association, zamindari association etc came up in India. These associations had organised several campaigns against the taxes, government services, laws etc. Therefore all these organisations laid the foundations for an all India organisation and finally in 1885 the Indian National Congress was established.
The annual sessions of Congress were held at different parts of India. The Congress in its sessions presented its aims and objectives which were:
-The first and the most important objective of INC was to promote the feeling of national unity and the process of nation-building in India. It was to create a national identity of being an Indian because colonial administrators did not consider or regard India as a nation but a geographical expression for their own good.
-To provide an all India political platform under which all political workers from the country could be educated and mobilized under a common all India political organisation.
-To promote political awareness and awakening among the educated citizen and to all the sections of the Indian society.
-To create a common forum for headquarters of political leadership and bring together leaders from different parts of the country for the success of the National Movement.
-To promote political liberal democracy and the democratic culture in India through debates, voting and discussions.
-To formulate popular demands and present them before the government to ensure the public welfare and to unify the people over these issues.
Therefore it is clear that Congress had promoted all the above aims and objectives, thus the correct answer to this question is option-D.

Note: Apart from all these objectives and aims Congress had also worked towards creating and promoting and anti-colonial ideology among the people. It was the most important part of the national movement against the oppressive and authoritarian colonial government.