1. Genesis & Demand for a Constituent Assembly

The demand for a representative assembly to draft a constitution for free India emerged during the national freedom movement:

• 1934: The idea was put forward for the very first time by M.N. Roy (a pioneer of the communist movement in India).
• 1935: The Indian National Congress (INC) officially demanded a Constituent Assembly to frame the Constitution of India for the first time.
• 1938: Jawaharlal Nehru, on behalf of the INC, declared: "The Constitution of free India must be framed, without outside interference, by a Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of adult franchise."
• 1940 (August Offer): The demand was conceded in principle for the first time by the British Government in Viceroy Linlithgow's 'August Offer'.
• 1942 (Cripps Mission): Sir Stafford Cripps came to India with a draft declaration proposing an elected Constituent Assembly after World War II. The proposals were rejected by the Muslim League, which insisted on two separate autonomous states with two separate Constituent Assemblies.
• 1946 (Cabinet Mission Plan): A three-member British Cabinet delegation (Lord Pethick-Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps, and A.V. Alexander) arrived in India. While rejecting the demand for two separate assemblies, it formulated a scheme for a single Constituent Assembly which was accepted by all major parties.

2. Composition of the Constituent Assembly

Under the scheme formulated by the Cabinet Mission Plan (May 1946):

1. Total Strength: The total strength was fixed at 389 seats:
   • 296 seats allotted to British India (292 from 11 Governors' Provinces + 4 from Chief Commissioners' Provinces: Delhi, Ajmer-Merwara, Coorg, and British Baluchistan).
   • 93 seats allotted to the Princely States.
2. Population-Based Allocation: Roughly one seat was allocated for every one million (10 Lakh) population.
3. Communal Representation: Seats allocated to each British province were divided among three principal communities: Muslims, Sikhs, and General (all except Muslims and Sikhs), in proportion to their population.
4. Method of Election:
   • Representatives of British Indian provinces were indirectly elected by members of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies using proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.
   • Representatives of Princely States were nominated by the heads of the princely states.

3. Working of the Constituent Assembly

The Constituent Assembly held its historic first session in the Constitution Hall (now Central Hall of Parliament House, New Delhi):

• First Meeting (9 December 1946): Attended by 211 members (the Muslim League boycotted the meeting and insisted on a separate state of Pakistan). Following the French practice of electing the oldest member, Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha was elected as the temporary President of the Assembly.
• Permanent Officers (11 December 1946):
  • President: Dr. Rajendra Prasad was unanimously elected as the permanent President.
  • Vice-Presidents: The Assembly had two Vice-Presidents: H.C. Mukherjee and V.T. Krishnamachari.
  • Constitutional Advisor: Sir Benegal Narsing Rau (B.N. Rau) was appointed as the Legal/Constitutional Advisor to the Assembly.
• The Objectives Resolution (13 December 1946):
  • Moved by Jawaharlal Nehru, this historic resolution outlined the guiding philosophy and fundamental objectives of the constitutional structure.
  • Unanimously adopted on 22 January 1947.
  • Its modified version forms the Preamble to the Indian Constitution.

4. Committees of the Constituent Assembly

To handle different tasks of constitution-making, the Assembly appointed 22 committees (8 major committees and several minor ones):

Major Committees & Chairmen:

• Drafting Committee: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
• Union Powers Committee: Jawaharlal Nehru
• Union Constitution Committee: Jawaharlal Nehru
• Provincial Constitution Committee: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
• Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities, and Tribal Areas: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
• Rules of Procedure Committee: Dr. Rajendra Prasad
• Steering Committee: Dr. Rajendra Prasad
• States Committee (Committee for Negotiating with States): Jawaharlal Nehru

The Drafting Committee (29 August 1947):

Among all committees, the Drafting Committee was the most critical body set up to prepare a draft of the new Constitution based on the initial draft prepared by Constitutional Advisor Sir B.N. Rau.

It consisted of 7 members headed by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.

5. Enactment & Commencement of the Constitution

The Constitution underwent three detailed readings in the Assembly:

1. First Reading (4 Nov 1948 – 9 Nov 1948): General discussion.
2. Second Reading (15 Nov 1948 – 17 Oct 1949): Clause-by-clause consideration; over 7,635 amendments were proposed, of which 2,473 were discussed.
3. Third Reading (14 Nov 1949 – 26 Nov 1949): Final motion moved by Dr. Ambedkar.

On 26 November 1949, the motion on the draft constitution was declared passed, receiving the signatures of 284 members present out of 299.

6. Master Summary Table: Important Facts & Assembly Trivia