<Li> The pre-independence era, when the party was the umbrella organisation leading the campaign for independence; </Li> <Li> The post-independence era, when the party has had a prominent place in Indian politics . </Li> <P> The Indian National Congress conducted its first session in Bombay from 28--31 December 1885 at the initiative of retired Civil service officer, Allan Octavian Hume . In 1883, Hume had outlined his idea for a body representing Indian interests in an open letter to graduates of the University of Calcutta . Its aim was to obtain a greater share in government for educated Indians, and to create a platform for civic and political dialogue between them and the British Raj . Hume took the initiative, and in March 1885 a notice convening the first meeting of the Indian National Union to be held in Poona the following December was issued . Due to a cholera outbreak there it was moved to Bombay . </P> <P> Hume organised the first meeting in Bombay with the approval of the Viceroy Lord Dufferin . Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee was the first president of the Congress; the first session was attended by 72 delegates . Representing each province of India, the delegates comprised 54 Hindus and two Muslims; the rest were of Parsi and Jain backgrounds . Notable representatives included Scottish ICS officer William Wedderburn, Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta of the Bombay Presidency Association, Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi of the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, social reformer and newspaper editor Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, Justice K.T. Telang, N.G. Chandavarkar, Dinshaw Wacha, Behramji Malabari, journalist and activist Gooty Kesava Pillai, and P. Rangaiah Naidu of the Madras Mahajana Sabha . </P>

Who formed the indian national congress and when