<P> Congress is a secular party whose social liberal platform is generally considered to be on the centre - left of Indian politics . Congress' social policy is based upon the Gandhian principle of Sarvodaya--the lifting up of all sections of society--which involves the improvement of the lives of economically underprivileged and socially marginalised people . The party primarily endorses social liberalism--seeking to balance individual liberty and social justice, and secularism--asserting the right to be free from religious rule and teachings . </P> <P> After India's independence in 1947, Congress formed the central government of India, and many regional state governments . Congress became India's dominant political party; as of 2015, in the 15 general elections since independence, it has won an outright majority on six occasions and has led the ruling coalition a further four times, heading the central government for 49 years . There have been seven Congress Prime Ministers, the first being Jawaharlal Nehru (1947--1964), and the most recent Manmohan Singh (2004--2014). Although it did not fare well in the last general elections in India in 2014, it remains one of two major, nationwide, political parties in India, along with the right - wing, Hindu nationalist, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In the 2014 general election, Congress had its poorest post-independence general election performance, winning only 44 seats of the 543 - member Lok Sabha . </P> <P> From 2004 to 2014, the Congress - led United Progressive Alliance, a coalition of several regional parties, formed the Indian government, and was headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh . The leader of the party during the period, Sonia Gandhi has served the longest term as the president of the party . As of March 2018, the party is in power in three states: Punjab, Karnataka and Mizoram and the union territory of Puducherry . </P> <P> The history of the Indian National Congress (INC) falls into two distinct eras: </P>

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