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CONSTITUTION OF THE INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

Article I OBJECT
The object of the Indian National Congress is the well-being and advancement of the people of India and the establishment in India, by
peaceful and constitutional means, of a Socialist State based on Parliamentary Democracy in which there is equality of opportunity and of
political, economic and social rights and which aims at world peace and fellowship.

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Article II Allegiance To Constitution Of India

The Indian National Congress bears true faith and allegiance to the Constitution
of India as by law established and to the principles of socialism, secularism and
democracy and would uphold the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.
 Article II-A Party Flag
The flag of the Indian National Congress shall consist of three horizontal colours:
saffron, white and green with the picture of a Charkha in Blue in the Centre. It
shall be made of certified Khadi.

Article III Constituents

The Indian National Congress will include the plenary and special sessions of the
Congress and,

i. The All India Congress Committee

ii. The Working Committee
iii. Pradesh Congress Committees
iv. District/City Congress Committees
v. Committees subordinate to the District Congress Committee like Block
or Constituency Congress Committee and other subordinate Committee
to be determined by the Pradesh Congress Committee concerned.

Note: In this Constitution wherever the word "Pradesh" occurs, it will include
"Territorial", the word "District" will include "City" as required by the context.

Article IV Territorial Division

a. Pradesh Congress Committees shall ordinarily be constituted in the Pradeshes named below with the
headquarters mentioned against each:
Pradesh Headquarters
1. Andhra Hyderabad
2. Arunachal Itanagar
3. Assam Guwahati
4. Bihar Patna
5. Delhi Delhi
6. Goa Panaji
7. Gujarat Ahmedabad
8. Haryana Chandigarh
9. Himachal Shimla
10. Jammu & Kashmir Srinagar
11. Karnataka Bangalore
12. Kerala Trivandrum
13. Madhya Pradesh Bhopal
14. Maharashtra Mumbai
15. Manipur Imphal
16. Meghalaya Shillong
17. Mizoram Aizwal
18. Nagaland Kohima
19. Orissa Bhubaneshwar
20. Rajasthan Jaipur
21. Punjab Chandigarh
22. Sikkim Gangtok
23. Tamil Nadu Chennai
24. Tripura Agartala
25. Uttar Pradesh Lucknow
b. 26. West Bengal Calcutta Territorial
Congress Committees shall be constituted in the territories named below with the headquarters
mentioned against each.
Territory Headquarters
1. Andaman-Nicobar Islands Port Blair
2. Chandigarh Chandigarh
3. Dadra-Nagar Haveli Selvasa
4. Daman & Diu Moti Daman
5. Pondicherry Pondicherry
c. 6. Lakshadweep Kavaratti The Pradesh
Congress Committee may, with the previous sanction of the Working Committee, change its
headquarters.
 d. The Working Committee may, after ascertaining the wishes of the Pradesh Congress Committee or
committees concerned, constitute a new Pradesh, abolish an existing Pradesh, merge any existing
Pradeshes into one or assign to a Pradesh, a District or a portion or portions of a District from any other
Pradesh.

The Working Committee shall have the power to give representation in such manner as it thinks proper to areas
in the Union of India as have not been included in the jurisdiction of any PCC and/or direct tht such an area or
part thereof be included in a neighbouring Pradesh.

Article V Membership
a.
i. Any person of the age of 18 or over, who accepts Article I, shall,
on making a written declaration in form "A" and on payment of
triennial subscription of Rs. 3.00 only, become a primary
member of Congress provided that he is not a member of any
other political party, communal or other, which has a separate
membership, constitution and programme;
ii. No person shall be eligible to become a primary member except
at his permanent place of residence or at a place where he
carries on his business or work;
iii. The term of membership, Primary and Active, shall be from 1st
of January of the year or from the date of enrolment of a
member upto 31st of December of the following third year;
iv. Permanent Register of primary members with in their jurisdiction
shall be maintained by every Block/- Constituency and City/Town
Congress Committee with copies to the District Congress
Committee, as per prescribed rules;
v. Renewal of primary membership will be deemed to have been
completed by depositing requisite membership fee.
b. Any primary member may become an active member, on enrolling 25
primary members triennially, if he fulfills the conditions laid down in
Article V (B).
c. The triennial subscriptions paid by primary and active members shll be
distributed in the following proportions between the various Congress
Committee;

AICC 10%
PCC 25%
DCC 25%
Subordinate CCs 40%

Note : 40% share of primary and active membership subscriptions to be

proportionately distributed amongst various Subordinate Congress Committees
below the DCC shall be determined by the Pradesh Congress Committee
concerned.

Article V-B Active Membership

The following categories of persons who are primary members are eligible to be
Active Members:

i. Members of Panchayats, Block Development Committees, Zila

Parishads, Notified Area Committees, Town Area Committees, Municipal
Committees, Municipal Corporations, other local bodies, Metropolitan
Councils, State Legislatures and Parliament;
ii. Those who are actively connected with such organisations as are
recognised for the purpose by the Working Committee.
iii. Freedom Fighters who have undergone imprisonment or were externed
or were underground or were penalised for participating in freedom
movement.
 iv. Any person who has been a primary member for two consecutive years;
v. Any other person approved by the Congress President.

Every active member will have to fulfill the following conditions and make a
declaration in Form 'B' under his/her signature;

a. He / She is the age of 21 and over;

b. He / She is a habitual wearer of certified khadi;
c. He / She abstains from alcoholic drinks and intoxicant drugs.
d. He / She neither believes in nor practices untouchability in any shape or
form and undertakes to work for its removal;
e. He / She believes in an integrated society without distinction of religion
or caste;
f. He / She undertakes to perform minimum tasks including manual labour
as may be prescribed by the Working Committee;
g. He / She does not own any property in excess of the ceiling laws
applicable to him / her;
h. He / She subscribes to and works for promoting the principles of
secularism, socialism and democracy; does not, directly or indirectly,
openly or otherwise, adversely criticise the accepted policies and
programmes of the party, except through party forums.

i. He / She shall subscribe to the periodicals approved by AICC.

Article V-C Training Of Active Members

1. Every active member shall undergo a minimum training as may be
prescribed by the Working Committee.
2. No active member shall be entitled to contest for the election to:
i. All India Congress Committee,
ii. Pradesh Congress Committee,
iii. Executive of the District/City Congress Committee,
iv. Parliament, the State Legislature, Metropolitan Councils or Local
Bodies contested on party ticket; Unless he undertakes to
undergo a minimum training as may be prescribed by the
Working Committee.

3. No person shall be selected for election on party ticket to Parliament,

State Legislature and Local Bodies unless he is an active member.

Article V-D Renewal Of Membership

Active membership may be renewed by filling up the membership Renewal Form
(C)

Article VI Term Of Congress Committee

i. The term of every Congress Committee and of its Office bearers,
Executive Committee and members shall ordinarily be three years.
ii. The meetings of the DCCs, their Executive Committees and the PCCs
and their Executive Committees shall ordinarily be held regularly within
the stipulated time frame as prescribed in rules.

No Office Bearer of the Party shall hold an office ordinarily for more than two
consecutive terms at Block/District/PCC levels.
Article VI-A Reservation for Women/SC/ST/OBC
Minorities
a. 33% Of the seats at different Committees shall be reserved for the
women
b. Not less than 20% of the Seats shall be reserved at different Committees
for SCs/STs/OBCs and Minorities.

Notwithstanding anything contained in the above provision in the Article VI(A) (a),
Article VI(A) (b) the Congress President shall have the authority to relax the
percentage of sectoral representations for the categories stated above.

Article VII Register Of Active Members And Contribution

To Party Fund
1. Register :
a. Permanent Register of Active members shall be maintained by
the DCC's. A copy of the permanent Register duly certified by
the DCC President shall be made available to the PCC, The
DCC's will issue Identity Cards with photographs of the
members pasted on the cards under signatures of the
Presidents of the DCC and PCC concerned.
b. The Pradesh Congress Committee shall supply a duly certified
copy of the Permanent Register of Active members within their
jurisdiction to the Office of the AICC and keep it informed of any
changes made therein from time to time.
c. The Register shall contain the full name, address, age,
occupation, place of residence and date of enrollment of every
member.
d. Membership shall cease by death, resignation, removal or non-
payment of contribution and non-renewal of membership.

2. Contribution to Party Fund by Active Members :

Each active member shall have to contribute to the Party Fund certain
percentage of his income, as prescribed in the rules by the Working
Committee.

Article VIII Primary Committees And Qualification Of

Voters And Candidates
a. Primary Committees :
Primary members of a basic unit will elect its President and an Executive
Committee. President shall be an active member. The President shall
appoint a Secretary from amongst the members of the Executive
Committee.
b. Voters :
Every Member whose name is recorded in the Permanent Register
maintained under Article V (A) (a) shall be entitled to vote in election of
members of the subordinate Congress Committee.

c. Candidates :
Only an Active Member shall be eligible for election as a member of any
Congress Committee other than Primary Committee.

Article IX Subordinate Congress Committees

a. The PCC shall constitute a Subordinate Congress Committee for a
Panchayat Development Block or Panchayat Samiti or Panchayat Union,
as the case may be, and it shall be known by the name "Block Congress
Committee."
b. Provided that in any urban or otherwise special area, a Sub-ordinate
Congress Committee may be constituted for such territory as may be
determined by the PCC with the previous approval of the Working
Committee and such Committee shall also be known by the name "Block
 Congress Committee."
c. The PCC may constitute any other Congress Committee such as Village
Committee, Area Committee or Neighbourhood Committee which may
consist of two or more primary committees and shall be subordinate to
the Block Congress Committee.
d. Every primary committee shall be subordinate to the Block Congress
Committee for the area.
e. Every primary committee shall elect a delegate to the Block Congress
Committee. An active member who is enrolled as a member in the basic
unit shall be eligible to be a candidate. Such delegate shall be a member
of the Block Congress Committee.
f. The Block Congress Committee shall consist of the Presidents of the
primary committees subordinate thereto and the delegates elected by
the primary committees.

g. Where there are other subordinate committees such as Village

Committee. Area Committee or Neighborhood Committee, the President
of such Committees shall be co-opted as members of the Block
Congress Committee but they shall not have the right to vote in any
election of office-bearers of the Block Congress Committee or of
delegates to the DCC and the PCC.

Article X District Congress Committee

A DCC shall cover an area prescribed by the PCC in its Constitution and shall
consist of :

a. Six members elected by secret ballot by each Block Congress

Committee to the DCC as per rules prescribed by the Working
Committee;
b. All ex-Presidents of the DCC who have completed a full term of 365
days and have continued to be Active members;
c. Members of the PCC who reside in or have been elected from the
District;
d. Presidents of the Block Congress Committee, provided that they shall
not be eligible to become either President or Secretary of the DCC;
e. Members of the Legislature Congress Parties, both Central and State,
from the district, provided that they are active members;
f. Leaders of the Congress parties in Municipal Corporations,
Municipalities and District Boards/Zila Parishads or Janpads in the
District, provided that they are active members;

Members co-opted by the DCC Executive as per rules prescribed by the Working
Committee.

Article XI Pradesh Congress Committee

A. A Pradesh Congress Committee shall consist of:
a. Members elected by the Block Committees;
1. Every Block Congress Committee shall elect by secret
ballot, a delegate to the PCC and such delegate shall be
a member of the PCC;
2. An active member ordinarily resident or having his place
of business, occupation or profession within the area of
the PCC would be eligible to be a candidate for election
as delegate from any Block Congress Committee within
the area of the said PCC, Provided that

i. Conditions and conduct of elections will be in

accordance with the rules prescribed by the
Working Committee;
ii. In the following Pradeshes and Union Territories
the number of elected members of the
 Pradesh/Union Territory Congress Committee
shall be equal to the number of Members of the
Provincial/Territorial Legislative Assembly:
1. Arunachal
2. Goa
3. Manipur
4. Meghalaya
5. Mizoram
6. Nagaland
7. Pondicherry
8. Sikkim, and
9. Tripura
iii. From the Territorial Congress Committees of
Andaman Nicobar Islands, Dadra-Nagar-Haveli,
Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep and chandigarh
Territories there shall be twenty five members
each;
b. Ex-President of the PCC who have completed a full term of 365
days and have continued to be Active memebrs;
c. Presidents of the DCCs provided that they shall not be eligible to
become either President or Secretary of the PCC;
d. AICC members who reside in the Pradesh;
e. Members elected by the Congress Legislature Party at the rate
of 5% of the number of PCC or TCC members subject to a
maximum of 15;
f. Members co-opted by the PCC Executive from special elements
not adequately represented and others in accordance with the
rules prescribed by the Working Committee.
B. Every member of the PCC shall pay an annual fee of Rs. 50.00 to the
PCC of which Rs. 25.00 shall be remitted to the AICC as delegate fee
and shall collect Rs. 100.00 for Congress Fund triennially within 3
months of his election to the PCC and deposit it with the PCC and obtain
a receipt thereof.

He shall receive a certificate duly signed by a Secretary of the PCC that

he is a member and has collected Congress Fund.

Any member, who fails to pay his subscription or collect the fund within
the period stipulated, shall forfeit his right to exercise the functions of
member, including the right to attend any meeting of the PCC, till such
dues are cleared. The PCC shall forward to AICC Office a certified list of
Members not later than the date fixed by the Working Committee in that
behalf.

Note : The PCC will decide the proportion in which the Congress Fund
may be distributed among Subordinate Congress Committee.
C. Every Pradesh Congress Committee shall coordinate the activities of the
frontal organisations and shall:
a. Ordinarily function through the District Congress Committees;
b. Subject to the general supervision and control of the AICC, be
incharge of the affairs of the Congress Committees within its
own Pradesh and to that end frame its Constitution, not
inconsistent with this Constitution, which shall come into
operation only with the previous sanction of the Working
Committee;
c. Submit to the Working Committee an annual report of the work
done by the Congress Organisation in the Pradesh including
audited balance sheets;
d. Pay to the AICC the share due to it out of the members' fees
vide Article V(A) (c) and clause B above, before a date to be
fixed by the Working Committee.
D. The Pradesh, which has not completed the formation of the PCC on or
before the date fixed by the Working Committee may at the discretion of
the Working Committee be disentitled to be represented at the Congress
Session.
E. On the failure of any Pradesh Congress Committee to function in terms
of the Constitution or in accordance with the direction of the Working
Committee, the Working Committee may suspend the existing PCC and
form an adhoc Committee to carry on Congress work in the Pradesh.
Each Pradesh Congress Committee/Regional Congress Committee shall, in
accordance with the directions/guidelines issued by the Working Committee of
the AICC, constitute a trust for holding immovable properties belonging to such
PCC/RCC and also the properties belonging to the Congress Committees
namely District Congress Committee, Block Congress Committee and other
Committees subordinate to a PCC/RCC. The Board of Trustees of the said Trust
shall not be less than 3 trustees nor more than 9 trustees including the Chairman
and the other ex-officio Trustees. The Board of Trustees shall be appointed by
PCC/RCC and shall comprise of persons as approved by the Working
Committee of the AICC. The President of the PCC/RCC shall be the Chairman
ex-officio of the Trust. The Treasurer of the AICC and General Secretary AICC
Incharge of the concerned PCC/RCC shall be ex-officio members of the Board.
The term of the Board of Trustees other than the Chairman and the two ex-officio
Trustees shall be for three years. The properties shall be held in the name of the
said Trust and if that be not possible in a certain case/cases, then in such
manner as directed by the Working Committee of the AICC.

Article XII Delegates

All members of the Pradesh Congress Committees shall be delegates to the
Indian National Congress.

Article XIII All India Congress Committee

A. The All India Congress Committee shall consist of:
a. One-eighth of the number of the PCC members elected by them
from amongst themselves by proportional representation
according to the system of single transferable vote, provided that
the number is not less than five; however four member each
shall be elected from Chandigarh, Andaman Nicobar, Dadra
Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep TCCs.
b. President of the Congress;
c. Ex-Presidents of the Congress who have completed a term of
365 days and have continued to be Active members of the
Congress;
d. Presidents of the Pradesh Congress Committees, provided that
they shall not be eligible to become an office-bearer of AICC;
e. Leader of the Congress Party in Parliament;
f. Leaders of the Congress Party in the Legislatures, Legislative
Assemblies in Union Territories and Metropolitan Councils;
g. 15 members elected by the Congress Party in Parliament
according to the system of single transferable vote;
h. Members co-opted by the Working Committee from special
elements not adequately represented and others in accordance
with the rules prescribed by the Working Committee.
B.
a. The President of the Congress shall be the President of the All
India Congress Committee.
b. The AICC shall arrange for the implementation of the
programme of the work laid down by the Congress and shall
have powers to deal with matters and situations that may arise
during its term of office.
c. The AICC shall have power to frame rules, not inconsistent with
this Constitution, for regularising all matters connected with the
Congress which shall be binding on all subordinate Congress
Committees.
d. The AICC shall meet as often as required by the Working
Committee, but not less than twice a year, or on a joint
requisition addressed to the Working Committee by not less than
20% of the total number of AICC members having full voting
rights. Such requisition shall specify the purpose for which the
requisitionists desire a meeting of the AICC. A requisitioned
meeting shall be held within 2 months of the receipt of the
requisition, provided that not more than one requisiton can be
moved in one year. At any requisitioned meeting, additional
 items of business may be brought up by the Working Committee
for consideration.
e. At all meetings of the AICC other than requisitioned meetings, at
least 2 hours shall be allotted for consideration of proposition of
which due notice has been given by the members of the AICC in
accordance with the rules prescribed in that behalf.
f. One hundred or one-fifth of the total number of members,
whichever is less, shall form the quorum for a meeting of the
AICC.
g. Every member of the AICC shall pay an annual subscription of
Rs. 100/- and shall collect Rs. 200/- for Congress fund within
three months of his election to the AICC and deposit it with the
AICC and shall obtain a receipt thereof. He shall receive a
certificate of his membership duly signed by one of the
Secretaries of the AICC. Any member who fails to pay his
subscription or collect the fund within the period stipulated, shall
forfeit his right to take part in any of the meetings of the AICC,
Subjects Committee or any Congress Session till such dues are
cleared up.

Note : A member of the AICC need not collect fund for PCC also.

Article XIV Co-Opted Members

The Working Committee and the Executive Committee at Pradesh and lower
levels may co-opt upto 15% of the total membership of the AICC, PCC and other
lower Committees concerned as per rules prescribed by the Working Committee.

The Co-opted members at the AICC, PCC and lower levels shall not exercise
any voting right in any organisational election nor shall they contest any election
in the organisation, however, no person who is a co-opted member shall be
debarred for that reason from seeking election to full membership of any
Committee in normal manner.

Article XIV-A Ex-Officio Members

All Members of the Congress Party belonging to Panchayat/Nagar Palikas,
Legislative Assemblies, Legislative Councils, Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha shall be
ex-Officio Members of the Congress Committees at the corresponding levels
such as Unit/Block/Town/District/PCC Committee respectively.