Making of the Constitution

📖 Formation of the Constituent Assembly

The Constituent Assembly was formed under the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946. Members were indirectly elected by the provincial legislative assemblies. It was not a fully sovereign, universally-elected body — its original strength was 389, which fell to 299 after Partition, since members from Pakistan's territories withdrew.

The Assembly first met on 9 December 1946, with Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha as temporary chairman; Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected its permanent President shortly after.

🖊️ The Drafting Committee

Set up on 29 August 1947 with seven members, and chaired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the Drafting Committee was responsible for preparing the actual text of the Constitution based on decisions taken by the Assembly's various sub-committees.

🗓️ Key dates to remember

• 13 December 1946 — Jawaharlal Nehru moves the "Objectives Resolution," which later became the basis of the Preamble.
• 26 November 1949 — The Constitution is adopted by the Constituent Assembly.
• 26 January 1950 — The Constitution comes into force — chosen deliberately to honour "Purna Swaraj" (complete independence), the pledge taken by the Indian National Congress on 26 January 1930.

In total, the Assembly took 2 years, 11 months and 18 days to complete the Constitution.