The Indian National Congress (INC) was established in 1885 and it became one of the most important political parties in pre-independence India. The first Indian National Congress session was held in 1885.
Allan Octavian Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji and Dinshaw Edulji Wacha founded Indian National Congress on 28 December 1885.
The list of Indian National Congress sessions with their Presidents are given below:
| Year | Location | President | Importance |
| 1885 | Bombay | W C Bonnerjee | 1st session attended by 72 delegates |
| 1886 | Calcutta | Dadabhai Naoroji | National Congress and National Conference |
| 1887 | Madras | Syed Badruddin Tyabji | Appeal made to Muslims to join hands with other national leaders. First Muslim President. |
| 1888 | Allahabad | George Yule | First English president |
| 1889 | Bombay | Sir William Wedderburn | – |
| 1890 | Calcutta | Feroz Shah Mehta | – |
| 1891 | Nagpur | P. Ananda Charlu | – |
| 1892 | Allahabad | W C Bonnerjee | – |
| 1893 | Lahore | Dadabhai Naoroji | – |
| 1894 | Madras | Alfred Webb | – |
| 1895 | Poona | Surendranath Banerjee | – |
| 1896 | Calcutta | Rahimtullah M. Sayani | National song ‘Vande Mataram’ sung for the first time. |
| 1897 | Amravati | C. Sankaran Nair | – |
| 1898 | Madras | Ananda Mohan Bose | – |
| 1899 | Lucknow | Romesh Chandra Dutt | – |
| 1900 | Lahore | N G Chandavarkar | – |
| 1901 | Calcutta | Dinshaw E. Wacha | – |
| 1902 | Ahmedabad | Surendranath Banerjee | – |
| 1903 | Madras | Lal Mohan Ghosh | – |
| 1904 | Bombay | Sir Henry Cotton | – |
| 1905 | Benares | Gopal Krishna Gokhale | Expressed resentment against the partition of Bengal |
| 1906 | Calcutta | Dadabhai Naoroji | The word ‘Swaraj’ was mentioned for the first time. 1886-1906 Moderate Phase. |
| 1907 | Surat | Rash Behari Ghosh | Party splits into extremists and moderates. Surat split. |
| 1908 | Madras | Rash Behari Ghosh | Previous session continued |
| 1909 | Lahore | Madan Mohan Malaviya | Indian Councils Act, 1909 |
| 1910 | Allahabad | Sir William Wedderburn | – |
| 1911 | Calcutta | Bishan Narayan Dhar | National Anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’ sung for the first time. |
| 1912 | Bankipore (Patna) | Raghunath Narasinha Mudholkar | – |
| 1913 | Karachi | Syed Mohammed | – |
| 1914 | Madras | Bhupendra Nath Basu | – |
| 1915 | Bombay | Satyendra Prasanna Sinha | – |
| 1916 | Lucknow | Ambica Charan Mazumdar | Lucknow Pact – joint session with the Muslim League |
| 1917 | Calcutta | Annie Besant | First woman president of the INC. Home Rule Moment. |
| 1918 | Bombay And Delhi | Syed Hasan Imam (Bombay) And Madan Mohan Malaviya (Delhi) | Two sessions were held. First in Bombay in August/September Second in Delhi in December |
| 1919 | Amritsar | Motilal Nehru | Jallianwala Bagh massacre strongly condemned |
| 1920 | Nagpur | C Vijayaraghavachariar | – |
| 1921 | Ahmedabad | Hakim Ajmal Khan (acting President For C R Das) | – |
| 1922 | Gaya | C R Das | Swaraj Party formed. |
| 1923 | Kakinada | Maulana Mohammad Ali, | – |
| 1924 | Belgaum | M K Gandhi | Only one time President. |
| 1925 | Kanpur | Sarojini Naidu | First Indian woman president |
| 1926 | Guwahati | S Srinivasa Iyengar | – |
| 1927 | Madras | M A Ansari | – |
| 1928 | Calcutta | Motilal Nehru | All India Youth Congress formed |
| 1929 | Lahore | Jawaharlal Nehru | Resolution for ‘Poorna Swaraj.’ Civil Disobedience movement for complete independence to be launched, 26 January to be observed as ‘Independence Day’. |
| 1930 | No Session | – | – |
| 1931 | Karachi | Vallabhbhai Patel | Resolution on fundamental rights and national economic progress. Gandhi-Irwin pact endorsed. Gandhi nominated to represent INC in the second round table conference. only one time president. |
| 1932 | Delhi | Amrit Ranchhorddas Seth | – |
| 1933 | Calcutta | Malaviya Was Elected But Mrs Nellie Sengupta Presided | – |
| 1934 | Bombay | Rajendra Prasad | 1935 – No Session. |
| 1936 | Lucknow | Jawaharlal Nehru | – |
| 1936 | Faizpur | Jawaharlal Nehru | First rural session/first session to be held in a village |
| 1938 | Haripura | Subhas Chandra Bose | National planning committee set up under Nehru |
| 1939 | Tripuri | Subhas Chandra Bose | Bose was elected but had to resign since Gandhi supported Pattabhi Sitaramayya. Instead, Rajendra Prasad was appointed |
| 1940 | Ramgarh | Abul Kalam Azad | Longest serving President. 1940-1945 |
| 1941-45 | – | – | No session because of arrest |
| 1946 | Meerut | Acharya Kripalani | Last session before independence, supported partition. |
| 1948 | Jaipur | Pattabhi Sitaramayya | First session after independence |
| 1950 | Nashik | Purushottam Das Tandon | Resigned in 1951; Nehru became President |
| 1951 | Delhi | Jawaharlal Nehru | – |
| 1953 | Hyderabad | Jawaharlal Nehru | – |
| 1954 | Kalyani | Jawaharlal Nehru | – |
| 1955 | Avadi(madras) | U. N. Dhebar | – |
| 1956 | Amritsar | U. N. Dhebar | – |
| 1958 | Gauhati | U. N. Dhebar | – |
| 1959 | Nagpur | Indira Gandhi | – |
| 1960 | Bangalore | Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy | – |
| 1961 | Bhavnagar | Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy | – |
| 1962 | Bhubaneshwar | Damodaran Sanjvayya | – |
| 1963 | Patna | Damodaran Sanjvayya | – |
| 1964 | Bhubaneshwar | K. Kamaraj | – |
| 1965 | Durgapur | K. Kamaraj | – |
- Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee from Calcutta was elected as the President of the first session while A.O Hume acted as the General Secretary.
- At the time of the first session of the INC, Lord Dufferin was the Viceroy.