Introduction

• The Constituent Assembly was formed in 1946 to frame the Constitution of India based on the Cabinet Mission plan.

• It was an elected body tasked with drafting the constitution, which was dissolved after completion.

• The Constituent Assembly is considered a form of representative democracy since its members were indirectly elected, with some being nominated.

• In 1934, M.N. Roy first proposed the idea of a Constituent Assembly.

• The Constituent Assembly was partly elected and partly nominated to frame the Constitution, with members elected by the Provincial Assemblies of British India after the 1946 Provincial Assembly elections and nominated by princely states.

• After India’s independence in August 1947, the members served as the nation’s Provisional Parliament and the Constituent Assembly.

• V. K. Krishna Menon conceived the need for the Constituent Assembly in 1933 and it was enshrined as an Indian National Congress demand.

• The Indian National Congress held its session in April 1936 in Lucknow, presided by Jawaharlal Nehru, where they raised the official demand for a Constituent Assembly and rejected the Government of India Act, 1935.

• C. Rajagopalachari reiterated the demand for a Constituent Assembly on 15 November 1939 based on adult franchise, which was accepted by the British in August 1940.

• On 8 August 1940, Lord Linlithgow made a statement known as the August Offer, which included giving Indians the opportunity to draft their own constitution.

• Under the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946, elections were held for the Constituent Assembly for the first time.

• The Constitution of India was drafted by the Constituent Assembly and implemented under the Cabinet Mission Plan on 16 May 1946.

• The members of the Constituent Assembly were elected by the Provincial Assemblies using a single, transferable-vote system of Proportional representation.

• The total membership of the Constituent Assembly was 389, with 292 representatives from the provinces, 93 from princely states, and 4 from chief commissioner provinces (Delhi, Ajmer-Merwara, Coorg, and British Baluchistan).

• Unlike previous elections, voting in the 1946 elections was extended to a much larger portion of the Indian adult population.

• The Indian National Congress won 208 seats (69%), and the Muslim League won 73 seats in the August 1946 elections.

• After this election, the Muslim League refused to cooperate with the Congress, and Hindu-Muslim riots began. The Muslim League demanded a separate constituent assembly for Muslims.

• On 3 June 1947, Lord Mountbatten, the last British Governor-General of India, announced his intention to scrap the Cabinet Mission Plan, which led to the Indian Independence Act 1947 and the separate nations of India and Pakistan.

• The Indian Independence Act was passed on 18 July 1947, and India became independent on 15 August 1947.

• The Constituent Assembly first met on 9 December 1946 and reassembled as a sovereign body on 14 August 1947, succeeding the authority of the British parliament in India.

• Due to partition, a separate Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was formed on 3 June 1947. The representatives from the areas incorporated into Pakistan ceased to be part of the Indian Constituent Assembly.

• After the reorganization, the membership of the Constituent Assembly of India became 299, and it met on 31 December 1947.

• The Constitution of India was drafted by 299 delegates from different castes, regions, religions, and gender.

• These delegates sat for 114 days over 3 years (2 years 11 months and 18 days) to discuss the constitution and laws to be included.

• The Drafting Committee was chaired by B. R. Ambedkar.