Surat Split (1907)

The main criticism that the Indian National Congress faced in the beginning was that it was an organization formed to divert the intense unrest of indian society. Initially, the policy of the congress was only 'constitutional struggle'. The independence of the country was not the declared goal of the congress in the early days. All the early leaders of the congress were moderates. However, by 1905, many people came forward against the 'political begging policies' of the party and a new section called 'extremists' emerged in the congress. They declared that those who had led the national movement in the early days had failed. Thus the Indian National Congress split into two groups - the extremists and the moderates at the surat session in 1907. Extremists were led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal while the moderates were led by Gopala Krishna Gokhale.

In the Surat Session (1907), the radicals or extremists wanted Lala Lajpat Rai or Tilak as a presidential candidate and moderates supported Rash Behari Ghosh to be the president. But Lala Lajpat Rai stepped down and Rash Behari Ghosh became the president. The angry extremists boycotted the session and the moderates took over the congress. This split had a negative impact on the functioning of the congress. After the Surat Split, the congress remained under the control of the moderates. The moderates did not approve the boycott of foreign goods but the extremists favoured. The moderates continued to have faith in the good intensions of the British Government. They wanted self government in gradual stages, while the extremists wanted complete autonomy at the earliest. The extremists returned to the congress in 1916.