The Special Session of the Indian National Congress in Delhi in 1923 and the Role of Abul Kalam Azad in Preserving the Unity of the Party

Abstract

History of India of the first half of the XXth century is an example of the heroic struggle for independence against British rule, an example of searching and finding a compromise between various political currents in order to preserve a united anti-colonial front. An example of such a compromise was the special Delhi session of the Indian National Congress, held in September of 1923. Its main achievement was that it had managed to avoid a split and find a compromise solution that allowed to continue the struggle for independence using new methods. The history of the struggle for independence of India in the 20s of the XX century has been studied quite well in Russian historiography. This is the time of the non-cooperation campaign, the division of the Congress into «supporters of change» and «opponents of change», the formation of the Swaraj Party and changes in the tactics of political struggle. However, there are no works in Russian science that describe in detail the events of the Delhi session of 1923. There are practically no works covering the activities of one of the most prominent participants in the national liberation struggle in India of the 1st half of the XX century – maulana Abul Kalam Azad. It was he who was elected chairman of the Congress at that time and played a significant role in finding a compromise solution between supporters of participation in legislative assemblies and their opponents.