Before 1920 there was no national federation to coordinate union activity in India. This lack of a national organization caused a problem when the International Labor Organization (ILO) had its first conference in The government of India selected N. M Joshi as a representative without consulting the unions. In response, many unions protested. Joshi in return proposed the creation of an All-India Trade Union Congress to solve the dispute. The first session convened on 31 October 1920 with Lala Lajpat Rai as chairman. One hundred and one delegates attended the meeting, as did a number of political leaders and a fraternal delegate from the British Trades Union Congress. The delegates elected Rai as the Congress' new president and as India's representative at the next ILO meeting in Geneva.