Moderate Phase of Indian National Congress (1885–1905): Leaders, Methods and Demands – Notes for OAS

Moderate Phase of Indian National Congress notes for OPSC OAS and UPSC cover the first two decades of the Congress (1885–1905), when leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji, Gokhale, and Pherozeshah Mehta pursued constitutional agitation through petitions, prayers, and protests. This page explains who the Moderates were, their methods and demands, the economic critique of British rule, their achievements and limitations, and Odisha's early association with the Congress.

Moderate Phase of Indian National Congress (1885–1905): Meaning and Context

The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885 by A.O. Hume, a retired British civil servant, along with Dadabhai Naoroji and Dinshaw Wacha. The first session was held at Bombay in December 1885 under the presidency of W.C. Bonnerjee, with 72 delegates attending. For the first two decades, the Congress followed a moderate, constitutional approach, and its leaders came to be known as the Moderates.

Who Were the Moderates? Key Leaders

The Moderate phase was dominated by leaders from the educated urban middle class—lawyers, journalists, teachers, and professionals. They were broad-minded and largely free from narrow sectional interests.

The first woman graduate of Calcutta University, Kadambini Ganguly, took part in the Congress session of 1890.

Methods of the Moderates: The 3Ps

The Moderates had implicit faith in peaceful and constitutional agitation within the framework of the law. They believed in patience and reconciliation rather than violence and hostility. Their method is famously summarised as the 3Ps: Prayer, Petition, and Protest.

• Petitions, resolutions, meetings, and speeches were the primary instruments for presenting demands to the government.
• The press and the annual Congress platform were their main agencies of communication. The press served as the sole medium for disseminating Congress propaganda throughout the year.
• They dispatched delegations of prominent Indians to Britain to present the Indian viewpoint. In 1889, the British Committee of the INC was established, and it launched its publication, India, in 1890.
• They believed that if public opinion was created and organised, the British authorities would gradually accommodate their demands.

Major Demands of the Moderate Phase

The Moderates exercised caution in their demands to avoid provoking the government. Their demands were moderate in nature, but their economic critique was radical. The key demands were:

Constitutional Demands

• Expansion and reform of the Legislative Councils at the centre and in the provinces.
• Adequate representation of Indians in the Viceroy’s Executive Council.
• Indian control over the public purse: ‘No taxation without representation’.
• Demand for Swaraj or self-rule within the British Empire on the model of self-governing colonies like Australia and Canada. The first mention of this demand was made by G.K. Gokhale in 1905 at Banaras, and it was later articulated by Dadabhai Naoroji in 1906 at Calcutta.

Administrative Demands

• Simultaneous examination for the Indian Civil Service in India and England.
• Abolition or reconstitution of the Indian Council.
• Separation of the judiciary from the executive.
• Indianisation of the administration—appointment of Indians to higher posts.
• Repeal of the Arms Act and the License Act.
• Appointment of Indians to commissioned ranks in the Army.
• Reduction of military expenditure.
• More powers to local bodies.
• Spread of primary education.

Economic Demands

• Abolition of the salt tax and reduction of sugar duty.
• Reduction of land revenue to decrease the burden on cultivators.
• Encouragement of modern industries through government aid and tariff protection.
• Introduction of Permanent Settlement to other parts of India.
• Better treatment of Indian labourers abroad and improvement in the working conditions of plantation workers.

Civil Rights Demands

• Freedom of speech and expression.
• Right to free press.
• Right to form associations.

Economic Critique of British Imperialism: The Drain Theory

The Moderates’ most significant contribution was their economic critique of British rule. Despite their moderate political demands, their economic demands were radical and anti-imperialist in nature.

• Dadabhai Naoroji propounded the Drain Theory, which argued that a significant portion of India’s wealth was being drained to Britain without any economic return. He characterised British rule as a ‘perpetual and steadily intensifying foreign invasion’ that was gradually causing the country’s destruction.
• The Congress declared that British rule had resulted in poverty and famines. They attributed the impoverishment of peasants and zamindars to increased land revenue and blamed food shortages on the export of grains to Europe.
• They resisted the efforts of foreign rulers to transform India into a mere supplier of raw materials and a market for British manufacturers.
• They criticised official policies concerning tariff, trade, transport, and taxation, as these were seen as hindering the growth of indigenous industry.
• Numerous resolutions were passed on the salt tax, the treatment of overseas Indian labourers, and the hardships faced by forest dwellers.

Constitutional Reforms and the Indian Councils Act of 1892

Between 1885 and 1892, the Moderates’ primary demand was the expansion and reform of the Legislative Councils. Their agitation compelled the British Government to pass the Indian Councils Act of 1892. However, the nationalists expressed complete dissatisfaction with the Act, deeming it a deception, as it did not give Indians control over public funds or effective representation.

Achievements of the Moderate Phase

• Political training: The Moderates provided political training to Indians, popularised democratic and nationalist ideas, and promoted a modern outlook.
• Economic awareness: They created awareness among the people about the economic nature of British imperialism through the Drain Theory and other critiques.
• Unified agenda: They formulated a unified political and economic agenda that served as a rallying point for future political struggles.
• Principle of Indian interests: They firmly established the principle that India should be governed in the best interests of its own people.
• Constitutional reforms: Their efforts led to the Indian Councils Act of 1892, the appointment of the Public Service Commission in 1886, and the Welby Commission on Indian Expenditure in 1895.
• Simultaneous examination: A resolution was passed in the House of Commons for conducting the ICS examination simultaneously in India and England.
• Inclusiveness: The Congress welcomed individuals from all classes and communities. It was more a movement than a mere party.

Limitations and Criticisms of the Moderate Phase

• Narrow social base: The movement was confined to the educated urban middle class and lacked mass participation.
• Failure to widen demands: They failed to widen the scope of their demands beyond constitutional reforms and elite concerns.
• Underestimation of mass struggle: They underestimated the power of mass struggle and relied excessively on the goodwill of the British.
• Limited sessions: The Congress sessions lasted merely three days annually, and there was no machinery to carry on the work between sessions.
• British hostility: The British authorities displayed hostility towards the growing nationalist movement. British officials, starting from Dufferin downwards, labelled the nationalist leaders as ‘disloyal babus, seditious brahmins, and dangerous villains’.
• Rise of Extremists: By 1905, the Extremists, drawing support from younger political activists, took centre stage within the Congress, and the influence of the Moderates gradually waned.

Odisha Angle: Early Congress and the Utkal Sabha

Odisha’s connection with the early Congress was through regional associations that sent representatives to the annual sessions.

• The Utkal Sabha was formed in 1882 and was one of the earliest political associations in Odisha.
• Madhusudan Das attended the second session of the Indian National Congress in 1886 at Calcutta as a representative of the Utkal Sabha.
• Three Odisha associations generally sent representatives to the early Congress sessions: the Utkal Sabha of Cuttack, the National Society of Balasore, and the Utkal Hitaisini Samaj of Parlakhemundi.
• The Utkal Sabha was an independent regional body, not a branch of the Indian Association.

Transition to the Extremist Phase

By 1905, the Moderates began to shift their stance. Gokhale started advocating for self-rule as the ultimate objective, and Dadabhai Naoroji mentioned Swaraj as the Congress goal in 1906. However, the rise of the Extremists—Tilak, Lajpat Rai, and Bipin Chandra Pal—and the events of the Swadeshi Movement and the Partition of Bengal (1905) led to the Surat Split of 1907, marking the end of Moderate dominance.

Practice Questions on the Moderate Phase for OPSC OAS