constitution | constituent assembly

Formation of Constitution

The idea of formation of the first Constituent Assembly in India was put forward by Communist Party leader M.N. Roy in 1934. For the first time in 1935, the Indian National Congress officially raised the demand for the formation of a Constituent Assembly for the making of the Constitution of India.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru announced on behalf of the Indian National Congress in 1938 that the constitution of independent India would be framed by the Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of adult suffrage. The British government accepted Jawaharlal Nehru's demand, which was called the August Resolution Known from.

In 1942, under the leadership of Stanford Cripps, came to India with a proposal of the British Government. The Muslim League rejected the Cripps proposal outright because the Muslim League wanted to see India in two different parts and it intended that both of them should have their own Constituent Assembly .

In the end, the British Government sent the Cabinet Mission to make the Constitution of India. The Cabinet Mission rejected the separate demand of the Constituent Assembly. He made a comprehensive proposal of his which to a large extent satisfied the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League.

The Constituent Assembly was formed in November 1946 under the proposal presented by the Cabinet Mission-

The total number of members of the Constituent Assembly was considered to be 389, in which 296 seats were to be given to British India and 93 to the princely states. Out of the 296 seats given to British India, 292 seats were to be allocated by the governor of the provinces and four by the chief commissioner.
The seats provided in British India were to be determined mainly among the 3 communities in proportion to their population. The communities were Muslim, Sikh and general.
Each province and the princely states were to be given seats in proportion to their population, mainly 1 seat per 10 lakh people.
The representatives of the indigenous princely states were to be selected by the chiefs of the princely states.
The process of voting was to be done in a proportional representation manner by means of single transferable vote.

The Constituent Assembly was mainly a body of elected and nominated members, besides the members were to be elected indirectly by the provincial legislature. Elections to the Constituent Assembly were held in 1946 in which the Indian National Congress got 208 seats, the Muslim League got 73 seats and others got 15 seats.

Apart from this, the 93 seats given to the princely states could not be fully filled because they wanted to stay away from the Constituent Assembly.

The method of light elections was not directly based on adult suffrage, yet people of almost every religion, caste got representation in it. The participation of women was also ensured in this election. Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Mahatma Gandhi stayed away from the election.

Procedure of Constituent Assembly

The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly was called on 9 December 1946, which was boycotted by the Muslim League. The Muslim League strongly emphasized the demand for a separate Pakistan. Satchidanand Sinha was elected as the temporary President of the Constituent Assembly. Later Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the Permanent President of the Constituent Assembly and H.C. Mukherjee was elected as the Vice-President. B.N. Rai was elected as the Constitutional Adviser to the Constituent Assembly.

On 13 December 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru presented the historic Objectives Resolution in the Constituent Assembly, which contained the structure, structure, essence and philosophy of the Constitution.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru said that the present constitution declares India to be a sovereign and independent republic, authorizing India to run its future administration and administration. It is our hope that India's pluralistic features will flower and flourish India's democracy.
The sovereign powers and authority of India and the people of India will be the source of all the parts of the government.
All territories included in British India, all territories included in Indian princely states and all territories outside India that would like to join India in future shall be an integral part of the Indian Union.
Adequate security will be provided to all the people living in backward classes, minorities and tribal areas in India.
Freedom, equal opportunity of justice, equality of opportunity, freedom of thought and expression, freedom to form organizations etc. will be ensured to all the people of India.
The unity and integrity of the Indian Union shall be maintained and all its territories shall be protected according to law.
This ancient heritage land of India will be given its identity right and proper place in the world. India's tireless efforts for world peace and human welfare will be ensured a new identity and heights.

This historic resolution was unanimously accepted by all the members of the Constituent Assembly on 22 January 1946. This objective resolution of the constitution made a significant contribution to the reconstruction of the Indian Constitution to a large extent. Later, the changed form of the Objectives Resolution of the Constituent Assembly clearly got an important place in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.

The Constituent Assembly constituted many committees for the making of the constitution, in which there were 8 big committees and the names of these committees and their presidents of other smaller Constituent Assembly are as follows.

Committee	President
Federal Constitutional Committee	Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
Union power committee	Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
Drafting Committee	Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar
Provincial Constitutional Committee	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Procedure Rules Committee	Dr. Rajendra Prasad
Steering Committee	Dr. Rajendra Prasad
State Committee	Jawaharlal Nehru

Consultative Committee on Fundamental Rights and Minorities headed by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Consultative Committee on Fundamental Rights and Minorities had two sub-committees too.

Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights headed by J.B. Kriplani

Sub-Committee on Minorities headed by H.C. Mukherjee

Small committees

Committee	President
Work Steering Committee	Dr. K.M. Munshi
House Committee	B. PattabhiSitaRamaiya
Committee on Functions of Constituent Assembly	G.V. Mavalankar
Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Tribes and Minorities and Excluded Areas	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Committee on National Flag	Dr. Rajendra Prasad
Finance and Staff Committee	Dr. Rajendra Prasad
Ad-hoc Committee for Supreme Court	Vardachariyar
Committee for Chief Commissioners' Provinces	B. Pattabhisitaramaiya

Drafting Committee

The Drafting Committee was the most important of all the small and big committees of the Constituent Assembly. The Drafting Committee was formed on 29 August 1947. The responsibility of preparing the draft of the constitution was given to this committee. There were 7 members in this committee as follows-

Dr B R Ambedkar, Dr K.M. Munshi, Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, N.Gopalaswami Iyengar, Madhavrao, Syed Mohammed Sadulla, T.T. Krishnamachari .

The draft of the Indian Constitution was published in February 1948. Dr B.R. Ambedkar presented the final draft of the constitution on 4 November 1948 in the Constituent Assembly.

There was a detailed discussion on the draft of the Constitution in the Constituent Assembly in different periods. Finally, on the day of 26 November, 26 November 1949, the people of India adopted the constitution in the Constituent Assembly. This constitution had preamble, 395 articles and 8 schedules. The Preamble was incorporated and adopted in the Constitution after the implementation of the Constitution.

The first law minister of India, Dr. BR Ambedkar, laid the draft of the constitution in the Constituent Assembly. Dr. BR Ambedkar is considered as the father of the Constitution of India. He is also known as Modern Manu;