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Why is January 26 associated with the Indian National Congress's demand for complete self-rule?

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Mahatma Gandhi, holding a walking stick, walks beside Sarojini Naidu during the Salt March protest in 1930, with several men following behind them. — Indian National Congress Indian National Congress leaders Mahatma Gandhi (left) and Sarojini Naidu (right) on the Salt March in western India, March 1930.

January 26 is significant to the Indian National Congress because it marks the date in 1930 when the party publicly declared its resolution for Purna Swaraj, or "Complete Self-Rule."12

While the resolution was initially passed during the Congress session in Lahore on December 19, 1929, under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru, the party chose January 26, 1930, to make the declaration public and urged Indians to celebrate it as Independence Day. This move represented a decisive shift away from the earlier goal of dominion status within the British Empire, establishing full sovereignty as the movement's primary objective.12

Although India achieved independence on August 15, 1947, the date of January 26 was later honored when the Constitution of India took effect on January 26, 1950, transitioning the nation into a republic. Today, this date is commemorated annually as Republic Day.1