Monday 27 August 2012

Constituent Assembly of India



  • The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to write the Constitution of India. Its members were indirectly elected  from Provincial Assemblies.
  •  The Constituent Assembly was set up on the basis of Cabinet Mission plan in Nov 1946
  • The Assembly met for the first time in New Delhi on 9 December 1946.
  • Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha was the first president (temporary chairman) of the Constituent Assembly when it met on December 9, 1946.
  •  Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the President of the Constituent Assembly on 11 Dec 1946.
  •  The Vice President of the Constituent Assembly was Professor Harendra Coomar Mookerjee. He has also served as the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly's Minorities Committee.
  •  Eminent bureaucrat & jurist Sir B. N Rau was appointed as the Constitutional Adviser to the Constituent Assembly. He prepared the original draft of the constitution.
  • In Constituent Assembly, Frank Anthony represented the Anglo-Indian community, and the Parsis were represented by H. P. Modi. The Chairman of the Minorities Committee was Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, a distinguished Christian who represented all Christians other than Anglo-Indians. Ari Bahadur Gururng represented the Gorkha Community.
  • On December 13, 1946 ‘Objective Resolution' was introduced by Jawaharlal Nehru. Objective Resolution consists underlying principles of Constitution.
  • On July 22, 1947 Constituent Assembly Adopted the national flag.
  •  On 29 August 1947, the Drafting Committee was appointed, with Dr B. R. Ambedkar as the Chairman along with six other members assisted by a constitutional advisor. These members were K. M Munshi , Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer , N Gopalaswami Ayengar, B L Mitter(Later B L Mitter resigned and was replaced by Madhav Rao), Md. Saadullah and D P Khaitan( Owing to death of D P Khaitan, T T Krishnamachari was included in the drafting committee).
  • On May 1949 It ratified India's membership of the Commonwealth.
  • On 26 Nov. 1949, the process of constitution making was completed and Constituent assembly adopted the constitution.
  • On January 24, 1950 Constituent Assembly adopted the national anthem, national song. Also, elected Dr. Rajendra Prasad as the first president of India.
  • On January 24, 1950 Constituent assembly signed the Constitution. It was last day of the Assembly.
  • Constituent Assembly completed the task of drafting Constitution in 2 years,11 months and 17 days.
  • On January 26, 1950 Constitution came in full operation. 26 January was selected because on this date in 1930  Indian people observed Independence day following the resolution of ‘Purna Swaraj ’ of the Congress session held in midnight of December 31,1929 at Lahore.
  • Constituent Assembly acted as Temporary Parliament between 15 Aug 1947 – 26 Nov 1949.
  • Constituent Assembly was converted into Provisional Parliament of India on 26 Nov 1949.
  • The first election to the Parliament was held in 1952.
  • The demand for Constituent Assembly for the first time raised by the Congress in 1935.
  • The British Government accepted the demand first time in the ‘August Offer’ of 1940.
  • According to Article 394 provisions relating to citizenship, elections, provisional Parliament contained in Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 60, 324, 366, 367, 379, 380, 388, 391, 392 and 393 shall come into force on 26 Nov1949 when constitution was adopted, and the remaining provisions of the Constitution came into force on 26 January, 1950, which  is referred in the Constitution as the commencement of the Constitution.
  •  At the time of commencement, the constitution had 395 articles in 22 parts and 8 schedules. 







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