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Why was Annie Besant's election as Congress president significant?

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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.

Annie Besant’s election as president of the Indian National Congress in 1917 was a significant milestone because she became the first woman to hold that position.12

Her leadership followed a period of intense political activity, during which she founded the Home Rule League in 1916 and played an instrumental role in forging alliances between nationalist groups, including the Lucknow Pact. Her commitment to Indian self-government—which she advocated for through her publications and speeches—led to her internment by the British raj earlier in 1917. Her release, prompted by widespread public outcry, solidified her status as a beloved and respected figure within the independence movement at that time.12

While her influence later waned as the movement shifted toward full independence and the strategies of Mahatma Gandhi, her presidency remains a landmark event in the history of the Congress Party.12