Allan Octivian Hume, a retired Indian civil servant, was the father and founder of the Indian National Congress. It had the blessings of the then Governor General of India, Lord Dufferin. It was founded at British official instigation and this was surreptitiously done by a Governor General through a retired civilian. Hume had conceived the idea that it would be of great advantage to the country if leading Indian politicians could be brought together once a year to discuss social matters. It was at the instance of Lord Dufferin that the body was given the form of a political association.

The first President of the Congress, namely W.C. Bonnerjee himself disclosed that “the Indian National Congress, as it was originally started and as it has since been carried on, is in reality the work of the Marquess of Duffering and Ava when that nobleman was the Governor-General of India. Lord Dufferin, in giving his blessings had "made it a condition with Mr. Hume that his name in connection with the scheme of the Congress should not be divulged so long as he remained in the country, and this condition was faithfully maintained and none but the men consulted by Mr. Hume knew anything about the matter".

The first session of the Congress was held at Bombay on December 28, 1885. In the third Congress session, the Chairman of the Reception Committee, Raja Sir T. Madhava Rao, had himself declared that the Congress was a “triumph of British Administration”. Englishmen, were the presidents of some early Congress sessions-William Wedder_burn in 1889, Alfred Webb in 1894 and Sir Henry Cotton in 1904.

During 1888, Hume and Badruddin Tyabji endeavored to secure Sir Syed’s support for the Congress. On January 24, 1888 Sir Syed wrote to Tyabji:

"I do not understand what the words ‘National Congress’ means-Is it supposed that the different castes and creeds living in India belong to one nation, or can become a nation, and their aims and aspirations be one and the same? I think it is quite impossible, and when it is impossible there can be no such thing as a National Congress, nor can it be of equal benefit to all peoples. You regard the doings of the misnamed National Congress beneficial to India, but I am sorry to say that I regard them as not only injurious to our own community, but also to India at large. I object to every Congress, in any shape or form whatever, which regards India as one nation."

The Indian National Congress which in fact was a Hindu-dominated political organization represented only the non-Muslim interest be it political, economic or cultural throughout its history from 1885 down to 1947.