When did the Indian Constituent assembly adopt the constitution?

The correct answer is 1946. The Cabinet Mission came to India in 1946 to work out how power would be handed over, and its plan laid down how a Constituent Assembly would be formed: 389 seats in all, 296 for British India and 93 for the princely states, with the members from the provinces elected indirectly by the provincial legislative assemblies. Elections to the British Indian seats followed in July and August 1946, and the Assembly held its first meeting on 9 December 1946.

The other years cannot be right. The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950, so an Assembly formed in 1952, 1959 or 1962 would have had nothing left to write. A good way to fix this date is to tie it to two others from the same year: the elections of July and August 1946, and the first sitting in December 1946.

The correct answer is December 1946. The Constituent Assembly met for the first time on 9 December 1946. The Muslim League boycotted the sitting and pressed its demand for a separate Pakistan, and Dr Sachchidananda Sinha, the oldest member, presided as temporary President. Two days later, on 11 December 1946, Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected the permanent President of the Assembly.

The other options are dates from before or after the Assembly's work. August 1945 is more than a year before the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 created the Assembly. July 1948 falls in the middle of its work, after the Draft Constitution had been published in February 1948. January 1950 is the very end: the last session was held on 24 January 1950 and the Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950. Remember the pair that is asked most often: first meeting on 9 December 1946, and Rajendra Prasad elected on 11 December 1946.

The correct answer is Dr Sachchidananda Sinha. When the Constituent Assembly met for the first time on 9 December 1946, Sinha, its oldest member, was made the temporary President, following the French practice of letting the senior-most member preside until a regular head is chosen.

Dr Rajendra Prasad is the classic trap: he was elected the permanent President of the Assembly on 11 December 1946, two days after the first sitting, so he did not preside over the first meeting. Jawaharlal Nehru's best-known role in the Assembly was moving the Objectives Resolution on 13 December 1946 and chairing committees such as the Union Powers Committee. G.V. Mavalankar presided when the Assembly sat as the Dominion Legislature, the country's first Parliament, not when it met to frame the Constitution. Keep the three offices apart: temporary President Sinha, President Prasad, and Mavalankar for the legislative sittings.

The correct answer is Dr Rajendra Prasad. Dr Sachchidananda Sinha presided over the first sitting of the Constituent Assembly on 9 December 1946 only as its temporary President. On 11 December 1946 the Assembly elected Dr Rajendra Prasad as its permanent President, and he held that office until the Assembly finished its work. On 24 January 1950, at its last session, the Assembly also elected him the first President of India.

The other names played different parts. Jawaharlal Nehru moved the Objectives Resolution and chaired the Union Powers, Union Constitution and States Committees. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel chaired the Provincial Constitution Committee and the Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights and Minorities. Mahatma Gandhi was not a member of the Constituent Assembly at all. Exams like to pair the words "temporary" and "permanent", so fix the sequence: Sinha first, then Prasad two days later.

The correct answer is Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru moved the Objectives Resolution in the Constituent Assembly on 13 December 1946, and the Assembly adopted it on 22 January 1947. The resolution set out what the Constitution was meant to achieve: an independent, sovereign republic in which all people would have justice, equality and freedom, with safeguards for minorities and backward classes. Those ideas were later shaped into the Preamble.

Dr Rajendra Prasad was the President of the Assembly and presided over its debates; he did not move this resolution. J.B. Kripalani chaired the Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee. Dr B.R. Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee, which was set up only on 29 August 1947, months after the resolution had been adopted. A tidy way to remember the order: Nehru stated the objectives first, and Ambedkar's committee turned them into a draft later.