- The INC was a modest organisation in its early years, restricting its use of force to constitutional means and discourse. Its demands restricted hiring more Indians for the military and civil service. Independence was never mentioned in it.
- Eventually, the party's demands and strategy grew more extreme after some time. By 1905, there was a definite gap in the party, which was now split between the older, more moderate faction and the younger, more extreme radicals, so named due to their radical ideologies.
- When Bengal was divided in 1905, the party evolved into a large-scale movement.
- Bal Gangadhar Tilak acted as the leader of the radical group. In the Surat assembly of 1907, the party was publicly divided.