Constituent Assembly in India and framing of the Constitution: (Notes)
a) Formation of the Constituent Assembly of Indiab) The issues before the Constituent Assembly
c) Passing of the Constitution
d) Dr. Ambedkar’s warning and anxiety about the working of the Constitution
e) Date of Commencement of the Constitution
1) Constitution Assembly
The Constituent
Assembly was a group of accomplished people who worked tirelessly to
provide free India with a constitution that Indians could be proud of. A
constituent assembly is a group of elected officials tasked with creating a
constitution. As a result, a constituent assembly's sole responsibility is to
draft the constitution. The assembly is dissolved once the constitution is
completed and adopted.
2) Formation of the Constituent Assembly of India
(1)
The
Constituent Assembly of India was originally formed to frame the Constitution
of India. M. N. Roy, a pioneer of the Communist movement in India was
the first person who proposed the idea of the Constituent Assembly in 1934.
This idea was later proposed by the Indian National Congress in 1935.
(2)
There was
a session held by the Indian National Congress presided by Pt. Jawahar Lal
Nehru in April 1935 at Lucknow. During this session, the members of
Congress raised an official demand for the Constituent Assembly. Although this
demand was rejected.
(3)
In 1938,
Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru made an impactful statement regarding the Constitution
and Assembly, ‘The constitution of free India must be framed, without outside
interference, by a constituent assembly elected based on adult franchise’
(4)
Later on,
C. Rajagopalachari who was an independence activist and at the same time an
Indian statesman, writer and lawyer raised his voice for the making of
Constituent Assembly of India on 15 November 1939.
(5)
The British
accepted the demand for a Constituent Assembly through their ‘August offer’
of 1940. The elections for the Assembly were held for the first time under the
Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946. To fulfill the purpose of its making, the
Constituent Assembly framed the Constitution of India and implemented it on 16
May 1946.
(6)
Composition: The Assembly was to consist of 389 members:
(a) 292 were elected from
provinces
(b) 93 were from princely
states
(c) 4 from chief
commissioner’s provinces
(7)
Election of Members: The members were not
directly elected by the people but were elected by the Provincial
Legislative Assemblies by the method of proportional representation by means of a
single transferable vote.
3) The issues before the Constituent Assembly
The Constituent
Assembly had to address several crucial and complex issues in framing the
Constitution. Some of the major issues included:
(1) Partition and Refugees: The partition of India in 1947 created the
issue of rehabilitation of millions of refugees and maintaining law and order.
(2) Integration of Princely States: Over 560 princely states had to be integrated
into the Indian Union, each with separate treaties with the British.
(3) Fundamental Rights: There was a strong demand to ensure basic
human rights and freedoms for all citizens.
(4) Federal Structure: There was debate on whether India should be a
federal or unitary state, especially given the diversity of
languages, religions, and regions.
(5) Language Issue: There was a major debate on the official
language of India, with conflict between supporters of Hindi and other
regional languages.
(6) Minority Rights: The Assembly had to ensure protection of
religious and cultural rights of minorities in the wake of communal violence.
(7) Economic and Social Justice: Addressing inequalities in wealth, caste
discrimination, and the need for socio-economic reforms were central issues.
(8) Directive Principles and Duties: The Assembly had to decide on non-justiciable
guidelines to ensure social and economic democracy.
(9) Democracy and Adult Franchise: The Assembly decided on a parliamentary
system of government and universal adult franchise, which was a bold
and progressive step.
4) Passing of the Constitution
The Constitution of
India went through a detailed and democratic process before its adoption:
(1) Time Taken: The Constituent Assembly met for 2 years, 11 months, and 18 days,
holding 11 sessions with 165 days of meetings.
(2) Debates: The debates were thorough and inclusive, and over 2,000 amendments were
moved and considered during the drafting.
(3) Drafting Committee: The Drafting Committee, formed on 29 August
1947, was headed by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. It was responsible for preparing the
draft Constitution.
·
Members of Drafting Committee
1)
Ambedkar as the chairman
2)
K.M. Munshi,
3)
Muhammed Saadulah,
4)
Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer,
5)
Gopala Swami
6) Ayyangar, N. Madhava Rao
(He replaced B.L. Mitter who resigned due to ill-health),
7) T T Krishnamachari (He replaced D P Khaitan who died in
1948)
(4) Adoption: After extensive debates and modifications, the Constitution was adopted
on 26th November 1949. On that day, the Constituent Assembly formally approved
the final draft.
(5) Signatures: The members signed the Constitution on 24th January 1950, two days
before its enforcement.
5) Dr. Ambedkar’s warning and anxiety about the working of the Constitution
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s warning and anxiety about the working of
the Constitution, expressed in his final speech to the Constituent Assembly on 25th
November 1949, was a deeply reflective and cautionary note. It went beyond
the legal text of the Constitution and focused on ethical, social, and
political responsibilities necessary for the Constitution to succeed in
practice.
(1) Use Only Constitutional Methods
Dr. Ambedkar
said that to achieve our social and economic goals, we must follow constitutional
ways—like elections, laws, and peaceful discussion. We should not use
violence, protests like satyagraha, or civil disobedience. These methods
may have been justified earlier under British rule, when we had no rights. But
now that we have our own Constitution and legal paths to bring change, using
illegal or violent methods is wrong. He called such actions the "Grammar
of Anarchy" and warned they must be stopped.
(2) Avoid Hero-Worship in Politics
Ambedkar
warned against blindly following even great leaders. It's okay to respect and
be thankful to good leaders, but we should never give up our freedom or
blindly trust them. In India, people often follow leaders with deep
emotional devotion (called Bhakti), which is dangerous in politics. He
said hero-worship in politics leads to dictatorship, and that no
nation should sacrifice its liberty for any leader, no matter how great.
(3) Build Social Democracy, Not Just Political Democracy
Dr. Ambedkar
said it's not enough to just give people the right to vote and form a
government. True democracy must also mean equality in society—everyone
should be treated with respect, regardless of caste, class, or wealth. If
there’s still social and economic inequality, political democracy (like
elections and laws) won’t survive for long. So, freedom, equality, and
brotherhood must be part of everyday life, not just part of the
Constitution.
6) Date of Commencement of the Constitution
(1) The Constitution of India came
into effect on 26th January 1950.
(2) This date was chosen to
honor 26th January 1930, when the Indian National Congress had
declared "Purna Swaraj" (complete independence) from British
rule.
(3) On this day:
(a) India became a Republic.
(b) The office of Governor-General
was replaced by the President of India.
(c) The Constitution officially replaced the Government of India Act, 1935 as the governing document of the country.
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