History of Evolution and Framing of Indian Constitution

■ In 1906, the idea of constituent assembly was implicit in the demand for swaraj.

■ Motilal Nehru presented a resolution to the Congress Working Committee to prepare a constitution for the Indians at the Bombay session on 17 May 1927. A committee was formed at the All Party Conference under the leadership of Motilal Nehru on 19 May 1928 to prepare a constitution for India. Motilal Nehru submitted his report on 10 August 1928.

■ The idea of ​​a constitution for India was put forward by M.N. Roy. M.N. Roy put forward the idea of ​​a constitution for India through the newspaper 'The Indian Patriot'. M.N. Roy had raised the need for a constituent assembly to frame the Indian constitution in 1934.

■ The Swaraj Party was the first political party to put forward the idea of ​​a constitution for India.

■ The idea of ​​a 'Constituent Assembly' for India was first discussed in the 1935 Bombay session of the INC. The President of the Bombay Conference in 1935 was Dr. Rajendra Prasad.

■ The Faizpur Conference (1936–37) was the INC conference where the idea of ​​a Constituent Assembly for India was formally discussed. The Faizpur Conference, held in Maharashtra, was chaired by Jawaharlal Nehru.

■ In 1938, Jawaharlal Nehru declared that India needed a constitution free from the influence of external powers.

■ August Offer (1940) 

On 8 August 1940, Linlithgow announced the August Offer. The August Offer was a declaration made to seek India's sincere cooperation in World War II operations. The August Offer proposed the framing of a constitution for India. According to the August Offer, India was granted the status of a princely state and the freedom to form a representative constituent assembly. The Viceroy's Executive Council was given the freedom to expand to include Indians. The Congress and the Muslim League opposed this offer.

■ Cripps Mission (1942) 

The Cripps Mission was a committee appointed by the British government to obtain India's support in World War II. Sir Stafford Cripps was the chairman of the Cripps Mission. The Cripps Mission was sent to India by the then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The Cripps Mission arrived in India on 22 March 1942. The Cripps Mission came to India to give India the right and freedom to make a constitution. The Cripps Mission put forward the idea of ​​giving India the status of a princely state after the Second World War. The Cripps Mission turned out to be a failure as the Congress and the Muslim League opposed it.

■ Wavell Plan (1945) 

The Wavell Plan was announced by Lord Wavell on 14 June 1945. The meeting convened to discuss the Wavell Plan is known as the Simla Conference.

The main proposals put forward by the Wavell Plan

◆ An interim government with equal representation of Hindus and Muslims will be elected.

◆ The interim government will be given the freedom to administer all departments except defense.

◆ All members of the Executive Council, except the Governor General and the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, must be Indians.

■ Cabinet Mission (1946) 

The Cabinet Mission was a committee sent by the Labour government to India in 1946 to consider and decide on the issue of granting full independence to India. The members of the Cabinet Mission were Pethick Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps and A.V. Alexander. The Cabinet Mission arrived in Karachi on 23 March 1946 and in Delhi on 24 March 1946. Lord Wavell was the Viceroy when the Cabinet Mission arrived in India. Pethick Lawrence (Secretary of State) was the Chairman of the Cabinet Mission. The Cabinet Mission submitted its report on 16 May 1946. The Cabinet Mission returned from India on 29 June 1946.

Recommendations put forward by the Cabinet Mission

◆ To frame a separate constitution for India, including Indian leaders.

◆ Form an interim government.

◆ Implement India's Declaration of Independence as soon as possible.

◆ Form a federal government.

■ Formation of Interim Government

The Interim Government of India also known as the Provisional Government of India, formed on 2 September 1946 from the newly elected Constituent Assembly of India (election held in August 1946). The election to the Constituent Assembly was not direct and representatives were elected from the provincial assemblies. In these elections, the Indian National Congress won around 69% of the seats and had a majority.

First Interim Cabinet formed in 1946 September 2

◆ Viceroy and Governor-General of India, President of the Executive Council - Lord Wavell

◆ Commander-in-Chief - Sir Claude Auchinleck

◆ Vice President of the Executive Council, External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations - Jawaharlal Nehru (INC)

◆ Home Affairs, Information and Broadcasting - Vallabhbhai Patel (INC)

◆ Agriculture and Food - Rajendra Prasad (INC)

◆ Health, Industries and Supplies - C. Rajagopalachari (INC)

◆ Commerce - C. H. Bhabha (INC)

◆ Defence - Baldev Singh (INC)

◆ Finance - John Mathai (INC)

◆ Labour - Jagjivan Ram (INC)

◆ Law - Syed Ali Zaheer (INC)

◆ Railways and Communications, Post and Air - Asaf Ali (INC)

◆ Works, Mines and Power - Sarat Bose (INC)

Cabinet is reconstituted in 15 October 1946, when Muslim League called off its boycott of participation in the interim government.

◆ Finance - Liaquat Ali Khan (All India Muslim League)

◆ Commerce - Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar (All India Muslim League)

◆ Health - Ghazanfar Ali Khan (All India Muslim League)

◆ Law - Jogendra Nath Mandal (All India Muslim League)

◆ Railways and Communications, Post and Air - Abdur Rab Nishtar (All India Muslim League)

Those who have had their departments changed due to department transfers

◆ Industries - John Mathai (INC)

◆ Arts, Education - C. Rajagopalachari (INC)

◆ Mines and Power - C. H. Bhabha (INC)

■ Indian Independence Act 1947

In July 1947, the British Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act. With this, two independent countries, India and Pakistan, came into being. On August 14, a new nation called Pakistan came into being. On August 15, India became independent. The changes brought in constituent assembly were, constituent assembly was made a fully sovereign body. It also became a legislative body and the first parliament of free india. Strength was reduced to 299 - as Muslim league members hailing from areas included pakistan, withdrew.

■ In 26th November 1949, the motion on draft constitution was declared as passed. It contained a preamble, 395 articles and 8 schedules.

■ 26th January 1950 was chosen as the 'date of commencement'.