Indian Youth Congress
Youth wing of the Indian National Congress
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Through Indian National Congress, Partition of India and Indira Gandhi
During the 1970s, under the leadership of Sanjay Gandhi, the Youth Congress undertook activities such as tree plantation, family planning, and fought against domestic violence and dowry deaths. After the death of Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi took over in charge of the Youth Congress. After he became prime minister in 1984, Rajiv Gandhi reduced the voting age to 18. Rahul Gandhi was appointed a general secretary of the All India Congress Committee on 24 September 2007 and was given charge of the Indian Youth Congress along with the National Students Union of India.
The Indian Youth Congress has its headquarters in New Delhi and is headed by Uday Bhanu Chib. There are 39 office bearers at the national level, followed by the state, Lok Sabha, Assembly and Booth level. In all, 174,000 committees have been formed at the Booth level.
History
In the early 1970s, the Youth Congress was mostly the work of Saiyid Nurul Hasan, who served as the education minister from 1972 to 1977. The organisation's most effective unit was the West Bengal Youth Congress, where its first elected president, Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, who transformed the unit into a full-time cadre, made it a body not to be ignored.
During the Emergency, the organisation became an important body in the use of Sanjay Gandhi. The banning of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh helped with adding members from the banned organisation.
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Role in India
UTI Scam rally protest
In 2001, several Youth Congress workers held Lalkar Rally around Parliament of India to protest against UTI Scam under National Democratic Alliance government and asked for resignation of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Protest against violent attacks
In 2011, 2,500 Youth Congress activists rallied and protested in Kolkata against the violent attacks on its supporters by the All India Trinamool Congress party.
Tripura civil disobedience movement
In 2012, Tripura Pradesh Youth Congress organized civil disobedience movement in all 23 sub-divisions in Tripura as part of agitation to protest against the Left Front government's failure to provide employment, nepotism, rise of crime and atrocities against women in the state. This saw procession of 4,000 Congress workers and detainment about 25,000 Youth Congress activists across the state.
Madhya Pradesh memorandum
Kunal Choudhary is the President of Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress. In 2012, Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress president submitted a memorandum to the Governor of Madhya Pradesh demanding dismissal of the State Government run by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for not able to protect teenager girls and murders.
Karnataka drought failure
In 2012, Youth Congress workers of Karnataka took out a procession in protest against the failure of the Government of Karnataka under BJP to tackle drought in 123 taluks and staged a mass protest in front of all taluk offices and locked the offices. A memorandum was submitted to Deputy Commissioner.
In January 2013, a 17 kilometer rally was held in Kannur demanding the dissolution of BJP government for 'failing' to provide good administration and losing the support of the majority.
India-Pakistan border protest for Indian soldiers
On 14 January 2013 more than hundred Youth Congress activists staged protests across India against Pakistan and its army outside the old customs gate at the Attari border over the killing of two Indian soldiers by Pakistani forces.
Implementation of 73rd and 74th Amendments in Jammu and Kashmir
In August, 2012 the Pradesh Youth Congress Jammu and Kashmir launched a statewide protest against the Government led by National Conference for the implementation of the 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution of India relating to Panchayti Raj in Jammu and Kashmir. The protests were led by J&K youth Congress president Mohammad Shahnawaz Choudhary.
Kisaan Satyagrah against Land Acquisition Ordinance
In January 2015, Indian National Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi directed nationwide protest against Land Acquisition Ordinance brought in by Indian Central government. The protest took place in various part of country. On 18 February, Indian Youth Congress protested against Vyapam Scam and Land Acquisition Ordinance near Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha where they were charged with water canon in which several youth congress volunteers were hurt and arrested along with Indian Youth Congress National President Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.
Protests at AI summit
On 20 February, some members of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) carried out protests inside the venue of India AI Impact Summit 2026 with slogans such as “PM is compromised” and the criticism of the recent trade deal between India and the US. 4 of these members were sent to police custody by the court on 22 February. While Bharatiya Janata Party condemned these protests, with its spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla saying, ""From being anti-BJP, you have gone to being anti-national? If you have a problem with the BJP, then protest at the BJP office, Jantar Mantar, or outside the PM's office. But the people of the country and their alliance partners condemn them for their attempt to defame India in front of the entire world at the AI Summit." Congress leader Harish Rawat defended the protests, saying "it’s also a fact that AI might become a tool in the hands of a few individuals… It’s the opposition’s job to warn against that… It’s not the first time such international events have been opposed. I know how the BJP protested during the Commonwealth Games… To say that such opposition has happened for the first time is not correct. The BJP has been doing this while in the opposition."
These protestors were granted bail by the Delhi high court on 2 March.