History
Traditionally, the post rotated between prominent members of the party, successive terms for the same person being frowned upon. During Nehru's premiership, he rarely held the Presidency of INC, even though he was always head of the Legislative Party.
Indira Gandhi however, institutionalised the practice of having the same person as the President and the Prime Minister after the first Congress split of 1969. Her son Rajiv Gandhi continued that practice. He was the INC President and the Prime Minister.
Narasimha Rao, too held both the Congress President and the Prime Minister's posts. Sitaram Kesri held the post after INC was voted out. But as the INC never returned to power under his leadership, he didn't hold the two posts together.
In 2004, when the INC was voted back Dr Manmohan Singh became the first INC Prime Minister, not to be the INC President since the practice began. Sonia Gandhi is the current Congress President, but not Prime Minister.
Read more about this topic: President Of The Indian National Congress
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“No cause is left but the most ancient of all, the one, in fact, that from the beginning of our history has determined the very existence of politics, the cause of freedom versus tyranny.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)
“Every literary critic believes he will outwit history and have the last word.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“While the Republic has already acquired a history world-wide, America is still unsettled and unexplored. Like the English in New Holland, we live only on the shores of a continent even yet, and hardly know where the rivers come from which float our navy.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)