5. Framing of the Indian Constitution — The Constituent Assembly

The Government of India Act, 1935 supplied the skeleton, but a body of Indians still had to decide what kind of nation that skeleton would serve. This post covers how the Constituent Assembly came to exist, how it was formed, and how it worked its way to the Constitution India has today.

The Problem This Topic Solves

A constitution imposed by a colonial power, however detailed, is not the same thing as a constitution a nation gives to itself. India needed a body that Indians themselves had chosen, meeting on Indian soil, with the authority to decide the country's fundamental law without needing British Parliament's approval for the result. The Constituent Assembly was created to be exactly that body — and understanding how it was formed and how it worked explains why the Constitution carries the legitimacy it does.

From the First Demand to the Working Constitution — Seven Milestones

• 1934–35 — M.N. Roy first proposes a Constituent Assembly; Congress officially demands one
• 1940–42 — August Offer & Cripps Mission: Britain accepts the idea in principle
• 1946 — Cabinet Mission Plan supplies the actual election scheme
• 9 Dec 1946 — First sitting of the Constituent Assembly, New Delhi
• Jan 1947 — Objectives Resolution adopted — basis of the Preamble
• Aug 1947 — Partition: Assembly's strength reduced from 389 to 299
• 1949–50 — Constitution adopted 26 Nov 1949; in force 26 Jan 1950

The Demand for a Constituent Assembly

1. Early origins — The idea of a constitution framed by Indians for India was first formally raised by M.N. Roy in 1934, and the Indian National Congress officially adopted the demand for a Constituent Assembly in 1935.

2. British acceptance in principle — The idea gained ground through the "August Offer" of 1940 and the Cripps Mission of 1942, in which the British Government, for the first time, accepted in principle that Indians should frame their own constitution — though the actual mechanism for doing so was worked out only after the Second World War.

3. The Cabinet Mission Plan, 1946 — A British Cabinet Mission arrived in 1946 and proposed the concrete scheme that finally produced the Constituent Assembly: members would be indirectly elected by the provincial legislative assemblies, with each province allotted a number of seats roughly proportional to its population (about one seat per ten lakh people), those seats further divided among the province's three main communities (General, Muslim, and Sikh) in proportion to their population, while princely states would nominate their own representatives rather than hold elections.

• M.N. Roy first proposed a Constituent Assembly in 1934; the Indian National Congress officially demanded one in 1935
• The Cabinet Mission Plan, 1946 provided the actual scheme by which the Constituent Assembly was elected and constituted
• Provincial assembly members elected the Assembly's British-India members indirectly; princely states nominated their own representatives

Composition and Strength

1. Original strength — The Constituent Assembly was originally to have 389 members: 296 from British Indian provinces (including the Chief Commissioners' provinces) and 93 from the princely states.

2. After Partition — Following the partition of India in August 1947, representatives from the areas that became Pakistan withdrew, and the Assembly's strength was reduced to 299 members — 229 from what remained of British India and 70 from the princely states.

3. Key figures — Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha, the oldest member present, chaired the Assembly's first sitting as a provisional chairman. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected the Assembly's permanent President on 11 December 1946, with Harendra Coomar Mukherjee as Vice-President. Sir B.N. Rau served as the Assembly's Constitutional Advisor, preparing the initial draft that the Drafting Committee would later work from.

The First Sitting and the Objectives Resolution

The Constituent Assembly held its first sitting on 9 December 1946 in the Constitution Hall (now the Central Hall of Parliament House) in New Delhi. On 13 December 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru moved the Objectives Resolution, setting out the fundamental values the future Constitution should embody — an independent sovereign republic, justice, equality and freedom for all citizens, and adequate safeguards for minorities and backward communities. The Assembly adopted this Resolution on 22 January 1947, and its language went on to shape the Preamble of the Constitution almost word for word.

• The Assembly's first sitting was on 9 December 1946; Dr. Rajendra Prasad became permanent President on 11 December 1946
• The Objectives Resolution was moved by Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 December 1946 and adopted on 22 January 1947 — its language became the basis of the Constitution's Preamble

Working Through Committees

The Constituent Assembly did not draft the Constitution as a single body debating every clause from scratch. Much of the real work happened in specialised committees — including the Union Powers Committee, the Union Constitution Committee, and the Provincial Constitution Committee, each chaired by a senior leader and each reporting its recommendations back to the full Assembly for discussion and approval. The most important of these committees for the Constitution's actual text was the Drafting Committee, chaired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar — its formation and work are significant enough to deserve their own post, next in this unit.

• The Assembly also doubled as India's provisional Parliament after independence, meaning the same body that framed the Constitution also passed ordinary legislation for the country during the transitional period
• Members were not evenly representative in every sense of modern universal suffrage, since the provincial assemblies that elected them were themselves elected on the limited franchise that existed under the Government of India Act, 1935 — a nuance worth remembering when comparing the Assembly's legitimacy to a body elected today

A Practical Example

The Objectives Resolution is the clearest illustration of how the Assembly's early decisions shaped the final text. Compare its promise of "justice, social, economic and political" and "equality of status and of opportunity" with the Preamble's own wording — the overlap is not a coincidence. The Resolution, adopted in January 1947, functioned as the Assembly's own statement of intent to itself, and the drafters treated it as binding guidance for nearly three years of subsequent work.

Quick Revision Points

• M.N. Roy (1934) first proposed a Constituent Assembly; Congress officially demanded one in 1935
• Cabinet Mission Plan, 1946 — the scheme that actually constituted the Assembly (indirect election by provincial assemblies + princely-state nominations)
• Original strength: 389 members (296 British India + 93 princely states); reduced to 299 after Partition
• First sitting: 9 December 1946. Dr. Rajendra Prasad, permanent President from 11 December 1946
• Objectives Resolution: moved by Nehru, 13 December 1946; adopted 22 January 1947 — basis of the Preamble
• Assembly worked through committees; the Drafting Committee (Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Chairman) is covered in the next post
• Constitution adopted 26 November 1949; came into force 26 January 1950