Nationalist Congress Party

ABOUT PARTY

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is a true inheritor of the rich and glorious political legacy handed to the Indian National Congress (INC) by early stalwarts like Dada Bhai Naorogi, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Annie Besant, and by other veterans of the freedom struggle - The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi himself, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sardar Vallabhi Patel, Aurobindo, Subhash Chandra Bose, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, Smt. Sarojini Naidu, Madam Bikhaji Kama and Aruna Asaf Ali. This legacy is one of ardent nationalism and of secular ethos, the fountain-head of which is the very history of our civilization. It is also one of standing for individual freedom - social, economic and political.

25th May 1999 is the Red Letter Day for the country. It was on that day that the Nationalist leaders Shri Sharad Pawar, Shri P. A. Sangma and Shri Tariq Anwar with hundreds of their political supporters assembled at No. 6, Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Road, New Delhi and took the historic decision to form a new Political Party under the name 'Nationalist Congress Party'. Shri Sharad Pawar was elected President and Shri P. A. Sangma and Shri Tariq Anwar, General Secretaries of the party.
NCP is the Millennial Party with a modern and progressive orientation. The ideology of the party is of holistic democracy anchored on Gandhian secularism, equity, social justice and federalism based National Unity. The Nationalist Congress Party, though a new party formed in 1999 is the true inheritor of the legacy of our great National Leaders who led the freedom struggle and established the new secular, democratic socialist sovereign Republic of India. NCP is the party that imbibes the spirit of the freedom struggle led by the founding Father of the Nation: which lies in Individual freedom: - social, economic and political.

PRINCIPLES OF THE PARTY

The founding principles of the Party as pronounced by the Party, were:

(1) Strengthening the forces of nationalism with an emphasis on the egalitarian and secular ethos of the Indian Republic and combating fundamentalism and sectarianism.
(2) Maintaining the unity and integrity of India by strengthening federalism and decentralization of power up to the village level.
(3) Promoting economic growth through competition, self-reliance, individual initiative and enterprises with emphasis on equality and social justice.
(4) Rule of law and constitutional order based on Parliamentary and participatory democracy.
(5) Empowerment of weaker sections, the schedule castes and tribes, OBCs, the disabled and the women.
(6) Strengthening the forces of peace within the country attempting to secure universal non-discriminatory disarmament, and
(7) Institutionalized and democratic functioning of the party.

The Indian Congress (Socialist) at their Plenary Session held on 6th June 1999 at Mavalankar Hall, New Delhi under the Presidentship of Shri Sarat Chandra Sinha, former Chief Minister of Assam, unanimously adopted a resolution to amalgamate that party with the Nationalist Congress Party upon which Shri Sharad Pawar and Shri Tariq Anwar attended their session land welcomed them into the Nationalist Congress Party.