The sessions of the Indian National Congress are pretty crucial for the UPSC Prelims exam as these events have shaped various elements that led to the Independence of our country. Even though there have been many sessions over the years, aspirants should focus on the most important ones. While learning, aspirants must focus on four things,

1. The Year of the said Congress session
2. The Name (the place where the session took place)
3. The President of the said Congress session
4. Key Outcomes from the Congress session

By studying these four details about each session, an aspirant can answer the questions related to this topic, and it can also help one understand how the freedom movement changed over the years. The overall narrative and the flow of these events will also help you in the Mains exam.

Below given are some of the crucial sessions that you must study for the Prelims.

1. 1885 – Bombay – Presided by W.C. Banerjee – First session/ Formation of the Indian National Congress.
2. 1886 – Calcutta – Presided by Dadabhai Naoroji – Second session of the Indian National Congress.
3. 1887 – Madras – Presided by Syed Badruddin Tyabji – Third session of the INC.
4. 1888 – Allahabad – Presided by George Yule – First English President.
5. 1905 – Benaras – Presided by Gopala Krishna Gokhale – Swadeshi movement was formally proclaimed.
6. 1906 – Calcutta – Presided by Dadabhai Naoroji – Resolutions on Swaraj, Boycott Movement, Swadeshi movement, National Education were proclaimed.
7. 1907 – Surat – Presided by Rash Bihari Ghosh – The INC split into moderates and extremists (Surat Split).
8. 1916 – Lucknow – Presided by – A.C. Majumdar – Moderates and Extremists united, and also the Lucknow pact was signed between the INC and Muslim League.
9. 1917 – Calcutta – Presided by Annie Besant – First woman President of the INC.
10. 1918 – Bombay – Presided by Syed Hasan Imam – This special session was convened to discuss the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms.
11. 1919 – Amritsar – Presided by Motilal Nehru – INC extends support to the Khilafat movement.
12. 1920 – Calcutta – Presided by Lala Lajpat Rai – In this special session, Gandhiji moved the Non-Cooperation movement resolution.
13. 1920 – Nagpur – Presided by C. Vijayaraghavachariar- The Working Committees of the INC was regrouped on a linguistic basis, and also this was the Year Jinnah left the INC.
14. 1922 – Gaya – Presided by C.R. Das – Formation of the Swaraj Party.
15. 1924 – Belgaum – Presided by Gandhiji – This was the only session presided by Gandhiji.
16. 1925 – Kanpur – Presided by Sarojini Naidu – First Indian woman President.
17. 1927 – Madras – Presided by Dr. M.A. Ansari – Poorna Swaraj resolution was adopted.
18. 1929 – Lahore – Presided by Jawahar Lal Nehru – Poorna Swaraj resolution was passed, 26th January to be witnessed as Independence Day.
19. 1931 – Karachi – Presided by Vallabhbhai Patel – The Gandhi – Erwin pact was endorsed, and Gandhiji was chosen to represent INC for the 2nd Round Table Conference.
20. 1937 – Faizpur – Presided by Jawahar Lal Nehru – First INC session to be conducted at a village.
21. 1938 – Haripura – Presided by Subhas Chandra Bose – The National Planning Committee was set up under Jawahar Lal Nehru.
22. 1939 – Tripuri – Presided by Rajendra Prasad – Subhas Chandra Bose was re-elected, but he resigned and formed the Forward Bloc
23. 1940 – Ramgarh – Presided by – Abul Kalam Azad – Civil Disobedience Movement to be launched.
24. 1946 – Meerut – Presided by J.B Kripalani – The INC session before the Indian Independence.

Please understand that the list is not exhaustive, and I request every aspirant to read the NCERT/Bipin Chandra to understand the narrative and then study it. Kindly go through each session and understand the session and its significance to make sure that you are not mugging it up. All the best!