Constituent Assembly: Demand, composition and working

Statement 1 is correct: the Constituent Assembly held its first meeting on 9 December 1946. Statement 2 is incorrect: the Muslim League boycotted the meeting, insisting on a separate State of Pakistan; so only 211 members attended. The League's members never took part in the Assembly as a body, and after partition the members from areas that went to Pakistan formed a separate Constituent Assembly there. The Indian Assembly went on to elect its permanent President on 11 December 1946.

The idea of a Constituent Assembly for India was first put forward in 1934 by M. N. Roy, a pioneer of the communist movement in India. The Indian National Congress took it up as an official demand in 1935. In 1938, Jawaharlal Nehru declared that the constitution of free India must be framed by a Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of adult franchise, without outside interference. The British accepted the demand in principle only in the August Offer of 1940.

At its first meeting on 9 December 1946, the Assembly elected Sachchidananda Sinha, its oldest member, as temporary President, following the French practice of letting the senior-most member preside at an inaugural sitting. On 11 December 1946, Rajendra Prasad was elected the permanent President. H. C. Mukherjee and V. T. Krishnamachari later served as Vice-Presidents, and B. N. Rau was the Assembly's constitutional adviser, who prepared the first draft of the Constitution.

Statement 2 is correct: in the August Offer of 1940, the British Government accepted in principle that framing India's constitution was primarily the responsibility of Indians, after the war. The Cripps Proposals of 1942 offered a constitution-making body but were rejected. Statement 1 is incorrect: the Congress first officially demanded a Constituent Assembly in 1935. The year 1946 is when the Assembly was actually constituted under the Cabinet Mission Plan.

Both statements are incorrect. Under the Cabinet Mission scheme, the Assembly was to have 389 members: 296 from British India and 93 from the princely States. The strength fell to 299 only after the partition of 1947, when members from areas that went to Pakistan left. On the method of election, each province's seats were divided among three communities, General, Muslim and Sikh, and the representatives of each community were elected only by the members of that community in the provincial assembly, by proportional representation through the single transferable vote.

The Constituent Assembly was constituted in November 1946 under the scheme of the Cabinet Mission Plan, announced in May 1946. The Plan fixed the total strength, the allotment of seats to provinces and princely States, and the method of election by provincial assemblies. The Cripps Proposals (1942) had offered an elected constitution-making body after the war but were rejected. The Wavell Plan failed at the Simla Conference of 1945, and the Mountbatten Plan of June 1947 dealt with partition.

Option (d) is the incorrect statement. The representatives of the princely States were to be nominated by the heads of the States, the rulers, not elected by their people. So the Assembly was a partly elected and partly nominated body. Its provincial members were indirectly elected by the provincial legislative assemblies, and those assemblies had been chosen on a limited franchise. Critics later used these points to argue that the Assembly was not fully representative, though its members came from most sections of society.

Only two statements are correct. Of the 389 seats under the Cabinet Mission scheme, 296 were allotted to British India (292 from the eleven Governors' provinces and 4 from the Chief Commissioners' provinces) and 93 to the princely States. Statement 3 is incorrect: there was no reservation for women, though about fifteen women did become members. Statement 4 is incorrect: provincial seats were divided among three communities, General, Muslim and Sikh, the last only in Punjab.

Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha was the Provisional President (d). At the first sitting of the Constituent Assembly on 9 December 1946, the oldest member, Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha, was made temporary President, following the French practice. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected permanent President on 11 December 1946. Option (a) is wrong: C. Rajagopalachari was not its President. Option (b) is wrong: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee. Option (c) is wrong: T.T. Krishnamachari was a member of that committee.

Notice other key roles: H.C. Mukherjee was Vice-President, B.N. Rau the Constitutional Adviser, and Nehru moved the Objectives Resolution on 13 December 1946. The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949.

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Statement I is correct but Statement II is wrong (c). Statement I is right: Constitution Day, or Samvidhan Divas, has been observed on 26 November since 2015 to promote constitutional values. That is the day in 1949 when the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution. Statement II is wrong: the Drafting Committee under Dr B.R. Ambedkar was set up much earlier, on 29 August 1947. The statement has the right person but the wrong event.

Notice the dates: the Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950, chosen because the Congress had declared Purna Swaraj on 26 January 1930. Some provisions, such as citizenship and elections, took effect on 26 November 1949 itself. 2025 marked 75 years of adoption.

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