The Indian National Congress is India’s oldest political party. It led the freedom movement and has governed India for 55 of 72 years since independence. During this period, India evolved from being a poor and famine-stricken country to one of the fastest growing economies in the world, self-sufficient in food and a technological and scientific powerhouse. In 2009, India became the third largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity, overtaking Japan. Under the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, India saw the biggest ever jumps in literacy, health and nutrition, and 140 million citizens exited the ranks of the poor. All of this was achieved with minimum dislocation in a democratic system by ensuring that disadvantaged citizens also benefited from social and economic progress. The Congress party stands today, as it did then, for freedom. We believe all citizens should be treated equally regardless of religion, caste, gender, sexual orientation or region. We reject extremism and hate from all sides. We believe that all disadvantaged groups should have equal access to rights and justice, and that our policies should promote emancipation, not discrimination. The INC stands resolutely in defence of our institutions because it is they that protect citizens from arbitrariness and tyranny. We cannot let expertise be replaced by ideology and systematic thinking be displaced by marketing-driven 'jumlas'. The All India Professionals’ Congress (AIPC) is a department of the Congress party that seeks to provide professionals with a platform to participate in politics and in policy-making. We invite all professionals to join us and help promote our values of diversity, freedom and the empowerment of all citizens.