National Congress of Fiji

The National Congress of Fiji was a Fijian political party that existed from 1965 to 1967. It was created to represent Indo-Fijians as a rival to the Citizens Federation. It soon merged, along with the General Electors Association, which mainly represented Fijian's of European descent, to form the Alliance Party.

The National Conress of Fiji formed on 10 January 1965 at the Kisan Sangh Hall in Lautoka, in front of 1,500 farmers, led by Ayodhya Prasad. The Congress sent a telegram to the Secretary General of the United Nations stating that 80,000 Fiji Indians wanted to settle in a foreign country. The purpose of the telegram was to draw the attention of the United Nations to the plight of the Fiji Indians. The telegram had the desired result, as under pressure from the United Nations the Colonial Secretary called a Constitutional Conference for 26 July 1965.

Prasad and the Congress were bitterly opposed to A. D. Patel and the Federation Party. Prasad believed that A.D. Patel actually did not want independence for Fiji and used the fear of common roll to deter other groups from agreeing to independence. On 21 July 1965, before the delegates departed for the London constitutional conference, the Congress called a meeting in which Fijian and European members of the Legislative Council were invited. The purpose of the meeting was to ensure that delegates to the London Conference were aware that there was at least one group of Fiji Indians willing to work with other groups to achieve independence.

In October 1965, Prasad met Ratu Kamisese Mara and suggested the establishment of a new political party made up of the Fijian Association and National Congress of Fiji. Kamisese Mara got the Europeans to join up as well and several meetings were held before it was decided on 29 November 1965 to form the Alliance Party. The Alliance was formed on 12 March 1966 with the coming together of the Fijian Association, National Congress of Fiji, General Electors Association, Suva Rotuman Association, Rotuman Convention, Chinese Association, All-Fiji Muslim Political Front, Fiji Minority Party and the Tongan Organization, along with Vijay R. Singh, who joined it independently.

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