Why PM Modi Invoked AO Hume to Corner Congress in Parliament | Explained

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Congress by saying that the opposition INDIA alliance in a ‘ghamandi’ alliance and added that the 26 parties in the alliance stand for arrogance.

In his speech that lasted for around 2 hours 20 mins, PM Modi said that ever since the Congress party was found, it has stolen its ideology and election symbol from the freedom struggle. PM Modi also took a dig at the party’s founder AO Hume and reminded that he was a foreigner.

PM’s All Out Attack on Congress

Prime Minister Modi attacked the Congress for stealing party’s identity, on its dynasty politics and for being against the country’s interest.

He mocked INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) bloc as an attempt to put plaster on a decrepit building and added that their new shop will soon be shut down. The opposition is all about ‘loot ki dukan’ and ‘nafrat ka bazar’, he said in what was seen as his swipe at Gandhi’s frequent ‘mohabbat ki dukan’ pitch.

The Congress was at the Centre of Modi’s political attack as he took dig at the INDIA alliance by saying that the parties have added two ‘Is’ of arrogance to the NDA, and the one ‘I’ of arrogance is of the alliance’s 26 constituents and the other ‘I’ is of arrogance of one family.

Attack on the Origin of Congress

From its Gandhi title to the election symbol, Congress has taken everything from somewhere else, PM Modi said in his address.

“All the things associate with the Congress identity doesn’t belong to it. From the party symbol to the political ideology, Congress claims that these are its own, but it has been taken from others,” PM Modi said.

“In order to hide their shortcomings, they stole the party symbol and the ideology. The party is in a denial mode ever since 2014. Who was the founder of the party- AO Hume, he was a foreigner,” he further said.

“In 1930, the freedom movement got a new energy and a new flag and the country adopted the national flag. The Congress saw the power of the national flag and stole it. They also stole the name Gandhi to get voters… See their election symbols, a pair of bullocks, hands — all stolen,” he added.

How AO Hume Founded Congress

Allan Octavian Hume, a British civil servant working in India, played a critical role in founding Congress. Born in June 1829 to Joseph Hume, an East India Company official, Hume tried his hand at the Navy before entering the Bengal Civil Service in 1849, according to The Print.

Hume, a member of the Theosophical Society, formed the party because of the influence of the “mystic gurus of the Himalayas,” believe some historians. Reports said that Hume started developing differences with the British administration in 1979 and resigned from his service.

The Congress was founded on December 28, 1885 by 72 political workers including Hume. The 72 reformers, journalists and lawyers gathered for the first session of the Congress at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, Bombay.

When the Congress was founded, the aim of the party was not to demand independence from the colonial rule but to influence the policies of the British government in favour of Indians. There were theories that the Congress was set up by Hume and the others under the directions of Viceroy Lord Dufferin to act as a “safety valve” for the rising discontent among the Indians.

In 1894, Hume left India and moved back to London where he founded the South London Botanical Institute.

The party after its inception consisted of mostly educated ad upper-class people who studied abroad. However, with the passing time, the party became more diverse and started setting up provincial organisations.