Chapter Info (Click Here)
Book No. – 006 (Indian Polity)
Book Name – Introduction to the Indian Constitution (D.D. Basu)
What’s Inside the Chapter? (After Subscription)
1. The Demand for Indian Self-Determination
2. Failure of Earlier Constitutional Efforts
3. British Resistance and World War II Context
4. The Cripps Proposals, 1942
5. Aftermath of the Cripps Mission
6. The Cabinet Mission Plan, 1946
7. Escalation of Muslim League Demands
8. The Mountbatten Plan, 1947
9. The Indian Independence Act, 1947
10. Reassembly of the Constituent Assembly
11. Composition of the Assembly
12. Impact of Partition on Membership
13. Drafting of the Constitution
14. Adoption and Commencement of the Constitution
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The Making of the Constitution
Chapter – 2
The Demand for Indian Self-Determination
The demand that India’s political destiny should be determined by Indians themselves was first put forward by Mahatma Gandhi in 1922.
Gandhi asserted that Swaraj would not be a gift of the British Parliament, but rather a declaration of India’s full self-expression.
He emphasized that though it might be ratified through an Act of Parliament, it would only serve as a courteous confirmation of the people’s will, similar to the case of the Union of South Africa.
Failure of Earlier Constitutional Efforts
The failure of the Statutory Commission and the Round Table Conferences, which led to the Government of India Act, 1935, further intensified the demand for a Constitution framed by Indians without outside interference.
In 1935, the Indian National Congress formally asserted this demand.
Nehru’s Demand for a Constituent Assembly
In 1938, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru definitively stated that the Constitution of free India must be framed by a Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of adult franchise.
This demand was reiterated by the Working Committee of the Congress in 1939.