Constituent Assembly & Constitution-Making (1946-49)

§1 — Timeline

Timeline of Key Events

§2 — Origins of the Constituent Assembly Idea

Origins of the Constituent Assembly Idea

M.N. Roy (December 1934)

Manabendra Nath Roy, communist intellectual, was the first to formally propose a Constituent Assembly for India in December 1934. Roy had been imprisoned 1932-36; his article "What Do We Want?" in 1934 articulated the demand.

Congress Adoption (1935 onwards)

The Indian National Congress took up the demand:

• 1935 — Congress demanded a Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of adult franchise.
• 1936 — Faizpur Congress reaffirmed the demand.
• 1940 — Congress (Ramgarh, Subhash Bose's last as President in 1939, then Prasad) repeated demand.
• 1940 — British August Offer by Linlithgow accepted the principle of a post-war Constituent Assembly.
• 1942 — Cripps Mission proposed an Indian-elected Constituent Assembly to draft the post-war Dominion's constitution.
• 1946 — Cabinet Mission Plan finally provided a workable framework.

§3 — Composition of the Constituent Assembly

Composition of the Constituent Assembly

Cabinet Mission Plan (May 1946)

The Cabinet Mission Plan (16 May 1946) outlined a Constituent Assembly of 389 members:

• 292 from British Indian Provinces (population basis, 1 per million).
• 4 from Chief Commissioners' Provinces (Delhi, Ajmer-Merwara, Coorg, British Baluchistan).
• 93 from Princely States (negotiated through their representatives).

Election (July 1946)

Provincial members were elected by Provincial Legislative Assemblies — themselves elected on the limited GoI Act 1935 franchise (about 30% of adults). Voting was by single transferable vote within each Legislative Assembly. Three communal categories — General, Muslim, Sikh — voted separately.

Election Results (July 1946)

• Indian National Congress — 208 seats.
• Muslim League — 73 seats.
• Independents — 15 seats.
• Total: 296 (out of 296 elected from British Provinces; 93 princely states' members joined later).

After Partition (August 1947)

After the 3 June Plan (1947), the Assembly was divided:

• India's Constituent Assembly: 299 members (after partition reductions and princely state inclusions).
• Pakistan's Constituent Assembly: separately constituted at Karachi.

Notable Members

• Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
• Dr Rajendra Prasad (President of CA)
• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
• Dr B.R. Ambedkar — initially elected from Bengal; after Bengal's partition, re-elected from Bombay (with Congress support arranged by Patel and Gandhi).
• K.M. Munshi
• Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar
• N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar
• Mohammad Saadulla
• Shyama Prasad Mookerjee
• Dr H.C. Mukherjee (Vice-President of CA)
• Sir B.N. Rau — Constitutional Adviser (not member, but key drafter)
• Sachidananda Sinha — temporary President at first session

Women Members (15 in total)

The Constituent Assembly included 15 women members:

• Sarojini Naidu
• Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
• Hansa Mehta — proposed inclusive language in fundamental rights
• Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
• Sucheta Kripalani
• Renuka Ray
• Begum Aizaz Rasul — only Muslim woman member
• Kamla Chaudhri
• Annie Mascarene
• Ammu Swaminathan
• Dakshayani Velayudhan — first Dalit woman
• Durgabai Deshmukh
• G. Durgabai
• Leela Roy
• Purnima Banerji
• Malati Choudhury

(Lists vary slightly by source between 14-15.)

§4 — First Session (9 December 1946)

First Session of the Constituent Assembly (9 December 1946)

The Constituent Assembly first met on 9 December 1946 at 11 a.m. in the Constitution Hall (now Central Hall of Parliament) at Delhi.

Boycott by Muslim League

The Muslim League boycotted the first session — refusing to participate in the Constituent Assembly because (i) the Cabinet Mission Plan's ambiguity about grouping had been resolved against the League's interpretation; (ii) by November 1946, the League had decided to insist on Pakistan. Only 211 of the 296 elected members attended initially.

Sachidananda Sinha — Temporary Chairman

Dr Sachidananda Sinha (1871-1950), the oldest member, presided over the first session as temporary chairman — following the convention of French Constituent Assemblies. He was a Bihari lawyer-politician, founder of Hindustan Review (1899), and a long-time Liberal-moderate Congress figure. His inaugural address welcomed members and outlined the Assembly's task.

Permanent President: Dr Rajendra Prasad (11 December 1946)

On 11 December 1946, Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected permanent President of the Constituent Assembly — defeating Pattabhi Sitaramayya. Prasad presided over all subsequent sessions until 26 November 1949.

Dr H.C. Mukherjee was elected Vice-President.

Sir B.N. Rau (Benegal Narsing Rau) was appointed as the Constitutional Adviser — a former ICS officer with extensive experience drafting constitutions for Burma and others. He prepared the initial draft.

§5 — Objective Resolution (Nehru, 13 Dec 1946)

The Objective Resolution (13 December 1946)

On 13 December 1946, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru moved the Objective Resolution — a comprehensive statement of the philosophical foundations of the new Indian state.

Key Provisions of the Objective Resolution

1. India shall be an Independent Sovereign Republic.
2. Constitution-making for British India provinces, princely states, and any other parts willing to join.
3. Federal structure with autonomous units exercising residuary powers.
4. Sovereignty derived from the people.
5. All power and authority traceable to the people.
6. Justice — social, economic, political; equality of status and opportunity; freedoms of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship, vocation, association.
7. Adequate safeguards for minorities, backward and tribal areas, depressed and other backward classes.
8. India's territorial integrity.
9. India to participate in promoting world peace and welfare of mankind.

The resolution was adopted by the Assembly on 22 January 1947. Its language and sentiments are reflected in the Preamble of the Constitution.

§6 — Major Committees

Major Committees of the Constituent Assembly

The Constituent Assembly worked through over 22 committees (some sources say 13 major + 9 minor). The most important:

Key Patterns

• Nehru chaired the powers, constitution, and states committees — the "macro" architecture.
• Patel chaired the provincial, fundamental rights, minorities, and tribal committees — the "individual rights" architecture.
• Rajendra Prasad handled procedure and steering.
• Ambedkar headed the central drafting work.

§7 — Drafting Committee

The Drafting Committee (29 August 1947)

The Drafting Committee was constituted on 29 August 1947 — exactly two weeks after independence. It was tasked with producing the formal draft text on the basis of inputs from the various subject committees.

Composition (7 members)

1. Dr B.R. Ambedkar — Chairman.
2. Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar — eminent Madras lawyer.
3. N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar — former Diwan of Kashmir, drafted Article 370.
4. K.M. Munshi — lawyer-politician.
5. Mohammad Saadulla — Muslim representative.
6. B.L. Mitter — replaced after resignation by N. Madhava Rau.
7. D.P. Khaitan — replaced after death by T.T. Krishnamachari.

Process

• The Drafting Committee worked from August 1947 to November 1949.
• Held 141 sessions.
• Used Sir B.N. Rau's preliminary draft (October 1947) as the working basis.
• Published the Draft Constitution in February 1948 for public comment.
• Received over 7,635 amendments; about 2,473 were actually moved.
• Ambedkar introduced the Draft Constitution on the floor of the Assembly on 4 November 1948 with a celebrated speech.
• Three readings completed by 26 November 1949.

Ambedkar's Role

Dr B.R. Ambedkar (1891-1956) is rightly called the "Father of the Indian Constitution". As Chairman of the Drafting Committee, he was the principal draftsman. He had:

• PhD from Columbia University, DSc from London School of Economics, Bar at Lincoln's Inn.
• Decades of experience as a constitutional thinker — author of "States and Minorities" (1947).
• Joined Nehru's Cabinet as Law Minister (15 August 1947).
• Worked despite poor health — diabetic, with arthritis.

Granville Austin called Ambedkar "the chief architect"; T.T. Krishnamachari said: "the bulk of the work has been done by Dr Ambedkar." Ambedkar is celebrated annually on 14 April (his birthday) and 6 December (Mahaparinirvana Diwas, his death anniversary).

Sir B.N. Rau (Constitutional Adviser)

Sir Benegal Narsing Rau (1887-1953) was the Constitutional Adviser — a former ICS officer who had drafted the Constitution of Burma (1947). He prepared the preliminary draft (October 1947) after extensive consultations with constitutional experts in the US, UK, Canada, Ireland. The Drafting Committee's work was based on Rau's draft. He was not a member of the Constituent Assembly. Rau later became a judge of the International Court of Justice (1952).

§8 — Sources of the Constitution

Sources of the Indian Constitution

The Indian Constitution drew from many sources, both indigenous and foreign:

The Indian Constitution is therefore eclectic — a "borrowed Constitution", in K. Hanumanthaiya's controversial phrase, but Ambedkar defended this as wise selection from the world's best practices.

§9 — Enactment

Enactment of the Constitution

Adoption: 26 November 1949

The Constitution was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949. This date is celebrated as "Constitution Day" / "Samvidhan Divas" (declared in 2015 by GoI).

On the day of adoption, Ambedkar moved that the Constitution as drafted be passed. After Rajendra Prasad's address, the Constitution was passed.

Signing (24 January 1950)

On 24 January 1950, the final session of the Constituent Assembly took place. The members signed the original Constitution — 284 members signed the original parchment in Hindi, English, and other languages. The same day:

• "Jana Gana Mana" adopted as the National Anthem.
• "Vande Mataram" (first two stanzas) adopted as the National Song.
• Dr Rajendra Prasad elected first President of India (taking office on Republic Day).

Coming into Force: 26 January 1950

The Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950 — the date chosen to commemorate the Lahore Congress's Purna Swaraj Declaration of 26 January 1930. India became a sovereign democratic Republic.

The Final Document

• Original Constitution: 395 articles in 22 parts; 8 schedules; 251 pages.
• The Constitution was hand-written and hand-decorated by Prem Behari Narain Raizada (calligrapher).
• Illustrations by Nandalal Bose and his students at Shantiniketan — with each part beginning with an illustration of a major theme of Indian history (Indus civilisation, Vedic, Mauryan, Gupta, Bhakti, Mughal, Maratha, 1857, freedom struggle, post-1947).
• Original copy preserved in helium-filled chambers at the Parliament Library.

Total Time and Cost

• Time: 2 years, 11 months, 18 days (9 December 1946 to 26 November 1949).
• Sessions: 11 sessions, 165 sitting days.
• Cost: about ₹64 lakh.

§10 — FAQs

FAQs