Unicameral assembly for making the Constitution of India

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constituent Assembly of India</span>

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "Constituent Assembly of India" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR  (March 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Constituent Assembly of India

<p><b>The Constituent Assembly of India</b> was elected to frame the <a href="/en/Constitution_of_India" title="Constitution of India" class="wl">Constitution of India</a>. It was elected by the 'Provincial Assembly'. Following <a href="/en/India's_independence" title="India's independence" class="mw-redirect wl">India's independence</a> from the British rule in 1947, its members served as the nation's first Parliament as the 'Provisional Parliament of India'.</p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Unicameral assembly for making the Constitution of India</div>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1097763485" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ambox-delete{border-left:10px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ambox-content{border-left:10px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ambox-style{border-left:10px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ambox-move{border-left:10px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ambox-protection{border-left:10px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}html.client-js body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .mbox-text-span{margin-left:23px!important}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}</style>
<p>
</p>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}</style><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Quick facts: Constituent Assembly of India, Type, Type, Hi...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="infobox vcard mobile-collapse-element"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above notheme" style="font-size: 125%; background-color: #ededed"><div style="display:inline" class="fn org">Constituent Assembly of India</div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span class="mw-default-size"><a href="/en/File:Seal_of_the_Constituent_Assembly_of_India.svg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Seal_of_the_Constituent_Assembly_of_India.svg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Seal_of_the_Constituent_Assembly_of_India.svg/170px-Seal_of_the_Constituent_Assembly_of_India.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="625" data-file-height="625" data-file-type="drawing" height="170" width="170" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Seal_of_the_Constituent_Assembly_of_India.svg/255px-Seal_of_the_Constituent_Assembly_of_India.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Seal_of_the_Constituent_Assembly_of_India.svg/340px-Seal_of_the_Constituent_Assembly_of_India.svg.png 2x" alt="Seal_of_the_Constituent_Assembly_of_India.svg"></a></span><div class="infobox-caption">Seal of the Constituent Assembly</div></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color: #ededed">Type</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Type</th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="padding:0.1em 0;line-height:1.3em;"><div style="display:inline" class="category"><a href="/en/Unicameral" title="Unicameral" class="mw-redirect wl">Unicameral</a></div>  </div></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color: #ededed">History</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Founded</th><td class="infobox-data">9<span>&nbsp;</span>December<span>&nbsp;</span>1946<span style="display:none"><span>&nbsp;</span>(<span class="bday dtstart published updated">1946-12-09</span>)</span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Disbanded</th><td class="infobox-data">25<span>&nbsp;</span>January<span>&nbsp;</span>1950<span style="display:none"><span>&nbsp;</span>(<span class="dtend">1950-01-25</span>)</span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Preceded<span>&nbsp;</span>by</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Imperial_Legislative_Council" title="Imperial Legislative Council" class="wl">Imperial Legislative Council</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Succeeded<span>&nbsp;</span>by</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Parliament_of_India" title="Parliament of India" class="wl">Parliament of India</a> (1950)<br><a href="/en/Constituent_Assembly_of_Pakistan" title="Constituent Assembly of Pakistan" class="wl">Constituent Assembly of Pakistan</a> (1947)</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color: #ededed">Leadership</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Temporary Chairman</div></th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;line-height:1.3em"><a href="/en/Sachchidananda_Sinha" title="Sachchidananda Sinha" class="wl">Sachchidananda Sinha</a>  </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;line-height:1.3em">President</div></th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;line-height:1.3em"><a href="/en/Rajendra_Prasad" title="Rajendra Prasad" class="wl">Rajendra Prasad</a>,<span> </span><a href="/en/Indian_National_Congress" title="Indian National Congress" class="wl">INC</a>  </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;line-height:1.3em">Vice President</div></th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;line-height:1.3em"><a href="/en/Harendra_Coomar_Mookerjee" title="Harendra Coomar Mookerjee" class="wl">H. C. Mookerjee</a><br><a href="/en/V._T._Krishnamachari" title="V. T. Krishnamachari" class="wl">V. T. Krishnamachari</a>  </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;line-height:1.3em">Chairman of the Drafting Committee</div></th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;line-height:1.3em"><a href="/en/B._R._Ambedkar" title="B. R. Ambedkar" class="wl">B. R. Ambedkar</a>,<span> </span><a href="/en/Scheduled_Castes_Federation" title="Scheduled Castes Federation" class="mw-redirect wl">SCF</a>  </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;line-height:1.3em">Constitutional Advisor</div></th><td class="infobox-data"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;line-height:1.3em"><a href="/en/B._N._Rau" title="B. N. Rau" class="wl">B. N. Rau</a>  </div></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color: #ededed">Structure</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Seats</th><td class="infobox-data">389 <small>(December 1946 – June 1947)</small><br>299 <small>(August 1947 – January 1950)</small></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><span><a href="/en/File:Constituent_Assembly_of_India_1946.svg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Constituent_Assembly_of_India_1946.svg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Constituent_Assembly_of_India_1946.svg/120px-Constituent_Assembly_of_India_1946.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="360" data-file-height="185" data-file-type="drawing" height="62" width="120" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Constituent_Assembly_of_India_1946.svg/180px-Constituent_Assembly_of_India_1946.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Constituent_Assembly_of_India_1946.svg/240px-Constituent_Assembly_of_India_1946.svg.png 2x" alt="Constituent_Assembly_of_India_1946.svg"></a></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Political groups</div></th><td class="infobox-data"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r981673959" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{}</style><div class="legend"><span class="legend-color mw-no-invert" style="background-color:#0066CC; color:white;"><span>&nbsp;</span></span><span>&nbsp;</span><a href="/en/Indian_National_Congress" title="Indian National Congress" class="wl">INC</a>: 208 seats</div> <div class="legend"><span class="legend-color mw-no-invert" style="background-color:#209700; color:black;"><span>&nbsp;</span></span><span>&nbsp;</span><a href="/en/All-India_Muslim_League" title="All-India Muslim League" class="wl">AIML</a>: 73 seats</div> <div class="legend"><span class="legend-color mw-no-invert" style="background-color:#CCCCCC; color:black;"><span>&nbsp;</span></span><span>&nbsp;</span>Others: 15 seats</div> <div class="legend"><span class="legend-color mw-no-invert" style="background-color:#FFCC66; color:black;"><span>&nbsp;</span></span><span>&nbsp;</span><a href="/en/Princely_States" title="Princely States" class="mw-redirect wl">Princely States</a>: 93 seats</div></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color: #ededed">Elections</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;"><a href="/en/Electoral_system" title="Electoral system" class="wl">Voting system</a></div></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Single_transferable_vote" title="Single transferable vote" class="wl">Single transferable vote</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color: #ededed">Meeting place</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><span class="mw-default-size"><a href="/en/File:Indian_Constituent_Assembly.JPG" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Indian_Constituent_Assembly.JPG"><img loading="lazy"alt="Time period:2 years, 11 months and 17 days. First day (9 December 1946) of the Constituent Assembly. From right: B. G. Kher and Sardar Vallabhai Patel; K. M. Munshi is seated behind Patel." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Indian_Constituent_Assembly.JPG/220px-Indian_Constituent_Assembly.JPG" decoding="async" data-file-width="2089" data-file-height="1186" data-file-type="bitmap" height="125" width="220" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Indian_Constituent_Assembly.JPG/330px-Indian_Constituent_Assembly.JPG 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Indian_Constituent_Assembly.JPG/440px-Indian_Constituent_Assembly.JPG 2x"></a></span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data label"><a href="/en/Sansad_Bhavan" title="Sansad Bhavan" class="mw-redirect wl">House of Parliament</a>, <a href="/en/New_Delhi" title="New Delhi" class="wl">New Delhi</a></td></tr></tbody></table> <footer class='mobile-collapse-footer mobile-collapse-btn'><b>Close</b> <span class='arrow'>▲</span></footer></div>
<p>The idea for a Constituent Assembly was proposed in December 1934 by <a href="/en/M._N._Roy" title="M. N. Roy" class="wl">M. N. Roy</a>, a pioneer of the <a href="/en/Socialism_in_India" title="Socialism in India" class="wl">Communist movement in India</a> and an advocate of <a href="/en/Radical_democracy" title="Radical democracy" class="wl">radical democracy</a>. It became an official demand of the <a href="/en/Indian_National_Congress" title="Indian National Congress" class="wl">Indian National Congress</a> in 1935. The Indian National Congress held its session at Lucknow in April 1936 presided by <a href="/en/Jawaharlal_Nehru" title="Jawaharlal Nehru" class="wl">Jawaharlal Nehru</a>. The official demand for Constituent Assembly was raised and <a href="/en/Government_of_India_Act_1935" title="Government of India Act 1935" class="wl">Government of India Act, 1935</a> was rejected as it imposed the Constitution which was against the will of the Indians. <a href="/en/C._Rajagopalachari" title="C. Rajagopalachari" class="wl">C. Rajagopalachari</a> voiced the demand for a Constituent Assembly on 15 November 1939 based on adult franchise, and was accepted by the British in August 1940.</p>

<p>On 8 August 1940, a statement was made by <a href="/en/Victor_Hope,_2nd_Marquess_of_Linlithgow" title="Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow" class="wl">Viceroy Lord Linlithgow</a> about the expansion of the <a href="/en/Viceroy's_Executive_Council" title="Viceroy's Executive Council" class="wl">Governor-General's Executive Council</a> and the establishment of a War Advisory Council. This offer, known as the <a href="/en/August_Offer" title="August Offer" class="wl">August Offer</a>, included giving full weight to minority opinions and allowing Indians to draft their own constitution. Under the <a href="/en/Cabinet_Mission_Plan" title="Cabinet Mission Plan" class="mw-redirect wl">Cabinet Mission Plan</a> of 1946, elections were held for the first time for the Constituent Assembly. The Constitution of India was drafted by the Constituent Assembly, and it was implemented under the Cabinet Mission Plan on 16 May 1946. The members of the Constituent Assembly were elected by the provincial assemblies by a <a href="/en/Single_transferable_vote" title="Single transferable vote" class="wl">single, transferable-vote</a> system of proportional representation. The total membership of the Constituent Assembly was 389 of which 292 were representatives of the provinces, 93 represented the <a href="/en/Princely_state" title="Princely state" class="wl">princely states</a> and four were from the chief commissioner provinces of Delhi, Ajmer-Merwara, Coorg and British Baluchistan.</p>

<p>The elections for the 296 seats assigned to the British Indian provinces were completed by August 1946. Congress won 208 seats, and the Muslim League 73. After this election, the Muslim League refused to cooperate with the Congress and the political situation deteriorated. Hindu-Muslim riots began, and the Muslim League demanded a separate constituent assembly for Muslims in India. On 3 June 1947 <a href="/en/Louis_Mountbatten,_1st_Earl_Mountbatten_of_Burma" title="Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma" class="wl">Lord Mountbatten</a>, the last British Governor-General of India, announced his intention to scrap the Cabinet Mission Plan; this culminated in the <a href="/en/Indian_Independence_Act_1947" title="Indian Independence Act 1947" class="wl">Indian Independence Act 1947</a> and the separate nations of India and Pakistan. The Indian Independence Act was passed on 18 July 1947 and, although it was earlier declared that India would become independent in June 1947, this event led to independence on 15 August 1947. The Constituent Assembly met for the first time on 9 December 1946, reassembling on 14 August 1947 as a sovereign body and successor to the British parliament's authority in India.</p>

<p>As a result of the partition, under the Mountbatten plan, a separate <a href="/en/Constituent_Assembly_of_Pakistan" title="Constituent Assembly of Pakistan" class="wl">Constituent Assembly of Pakistan</a> was established on 3 June 1947. The representatives of the areas incorporated into Pakistan ceased to be members of the Constituent Assembly of India. New elections were held for the West Punjab and East Bengal (which became part of Pakistan, although East Bengal later <a href="/en/Bangladesh_Liberation_War" title="Bangladesh Liberation War" class="wl">seceded</a> to become <a href="/en/Bangladesh" title="Bangladesh" class="wl">Bangladesh</a>); the membership of the Constituent Assembly was 299 after the reorganization, and it met on 31 December 1947.
The constitution was drafted by 299 delegates from different caste, region, religion, gender etc. These delegates sat over 114 days spread over 3 years (2 years 11 months and 18 days to be precise) and discussed what the constitution should contain and what laws should be included. The Drafting Committee of the Constitution was chaired by <a href="/en/B._R._Ambedkar" title="B. R. Ambedkar" class="wl">B. R. Ambedkar</a>.</p>



The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the 'Provincial Assembly'. Following India's independence from the British rule in 1947, its members served as the nation's first Parliament as the 'Provisional Parliament of India'. The idea for a Constituent Assembly was proposed in December 1934 by M. N. Roy, a pioneer of the Communist movement in India and an advocate of radical democracy. It became an official demand of the Indian National Congress in 1935. The Indian National Congress held its session at Lucknow in April 1936 presided by Jawaharlal Nehru. The official demand for Constituent Assembly was raised and Government of India Act, 1935 was rejected as it imposed the Constitution which was against the will of the Indians. C. Rajagopalachari voiced the demand for a Constituent Assembly on 15 November 1939 based on adult franchise, and was accepted by the British in August 1940. 