Making of the Indian Constitution: Notes, Key Dates and PYQs

Almost every Polity paper in SSC, Railway and State exams has a question from this chapter. Who presided over the first sitting of the Constituent Assembly? When was the Constitution adopted, and why did it come into force only two months later? Which country gave us the Directive Principles? Learn this one chapter properly and you have marks that come back in paper after paper.

Where the idea came from

The demand that Indians should frame their own constitution grew out of the freedom movement. M.N. Roy was the first to put forward the idea of a Constituent Assembly, in 1934. The Indian National Congress made it an official demand in 1935, and the British government accepted the demand in principle in the August Offer of 1940. The Assembly was finally set up in 1946 under the Cabinet Mission Plan.

How the Assembly was formed

The Cabinet Mission Plan fixed the total strength of the Assembly at 389: 296 seats for British India and 93 for the princely states. Of the 296, 292 were for the eleven governors' provinces and 4 for the chief commissioners' provinces. Seats were shared out among the provinces broadly in proportion to their population.

The members were not elected directly by the people. The members of the provincial legislative assemblies elected them, using proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. The representatives of the princely states were to be nominated by their rulers.

Elections to the 296 seats of British India were held in July and August 1946. The Congress won 208 seats, the Muslim League 73, and small groups and independents the remaining 15. After Partition, the members from the areas that went to Pakistan left the Assembly, and its strength came down to 299: 229 from the provinces and 70 from the princely states.

The Assembly at work: dates you must know

The Assembly met for the first time on 9 December 1946. The Muslim League stayed away and demanded a separate state of Pakistan. Dr Sachchidananda Sinha, the oldest member, was made the temporary President, following the French practice. Two days later, on 11 December 1946, Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected President of the Assembly, with H.C. Mukherjee and V.T. Krishnamachari as Vice-Presidents. Sir B.N. Rau was appointed its constitutional adviser.

The Objectives Resolution laid down the philosophy of the Constitution: India as an independent, sovereign republic, with justice, equality and freedom for all its people and safeguards for minorities and backward classes. Its ideas were later shaped into the Preamble.

The Assembly also had a second job. After independence it worked as the country's first Parliament, the Dominion Legislature. When it met as a legislature it was chaired by G.V. Mavalankar; when it met to frame the Constitution, Dr Rajendra Prasad presided.

The committees and their chairmen

The Assembly divided its work among a number of committees. Questions often give a committee and ask for its chairman, so learn them as pairs.

Two sub-committees of the Advisory Committee are also asked about: the Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee, chaired by J.B. Kripalani, and the Minorities Sub-Committee, chaired by H.C. Mukherjee.

The Drafting Committee

The most important of these, the Drafting Committee, was set up on 29 August 1947. It had seven members:

1. Dr B.R. Ambedkar (Chairman)
2. N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar
3. Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar
4. Dr K.M. Munshi
5. Syed Mohammad Saadullah
6. N. Madhava Rau, who replaced B.L. Mitter when he resigned on grounds of health
7. T.T. Krishnamachari, who replaced D.P. Khaitan after his death in 1948

The committee worked on the initial draft prepared by B.N. Rau and published its Draft Constitution in February 1948. The Assembly then went through the draft clause by clause, and more than two thousand proposed amendments were discussed on its floor. Ambedkar piloted the draft through the House, which is why he is remembered as the chief architect of the Constitution.

Time, sessions and the original document

The Assembly took 2 years, 11 months and 18 days to finish its work. In that time it held 11 sessions over 165 days, of which 114 days went into considering the draft. The total cost came to about ₹64 lakh.

As adopted in 1949, the Constitution had a Preamble, 395 Articles in 22 Parts and 8 Schedules. It has grown a great deal since then through amendments, so when a question says "originally", it means these numbers.

The original copies were written by hand, not printed. Prem Behari Narain Raizada wrote the English text in flowing italic calligraphy and Vasant Krishan Vaidya wrote the Hindi version, while artists of Shantiniketan led by Nandalal Bose decorated the pages. The elephant was the symbol (seal) of the Constituent Assembly.

Borrowed features: the sources of the Constitution

The framers studied the constitutions of many countries and adopted what suited Indian conditions, changing it where needed. The largest single source was the Government of India Act, 1935, and much of the structure of the Constitution comes from it.

How examiners ask this chapter

• Temporary President (Sachchidananda Sinha) against President (Rajendra Prasad) of the Assembly.
• The chairman of a given committee, most often the Drafting Committee (B.R. Ambedkar).
• Who moved the Objectives Resolution (Nehru) and when (13 December 1946).
• Adoption (26 November 1949) against commencement (26 January 1950).
• Which feature came from which country.
• The plan under which the Assembly was formed (Cabinet Mission Plan, 1946) and who first proposed it (M.N. Roy).

Revise in one minute

• Idea: M.N. Roy, 1934. Formed under: Cabinet Mission Plan, 1946.
• Strength: 389, later 299. Indirectly elected by provincial assemblies.
• First sitting: 9 December 1946. Temporary President: Sachchidananda Sinha. President: Rajendra Prasad.
• Objectives Resolution: moved 13 December 1946, adopted 22 January 1947.
• Drafting Committee: 29 August 1947, chaired by B.R. Ambedkar, seven members.
• Adopted 26 November 1949; in force 26 January 1950.
• 2 years, 11 months, 18 days; 11 sessions; 395 Articles, 22 Parts, 8 Schedules originally.