How India wrote its Constitution: from the Cabinet Mission to 26 November 1949

Every UPSC aspirant memorises dates: 9 December 1946, 26 November 1949, 26 January 1950. But dates without the story behind them leak out of memory fast. This article tells the full story of how India wrote its Constitution, from the first demand for a constituent assembly to the day the document was adopted, and flags exactly what the examiner asks from each part.

Key takeaways

- The Constituent Assembly was constituted in November 1946 under the Cabinet Mission Plan; its first sitting on 9 December 1946 was boycotted by the Muslim League.

- Its original strength was 389 (296 from British India, 93 from the princely states); after Partition it fell to 299. Members were indirectly elected by provincial assemblies, not by universal franchise.

- The drafting took 2 years, 11 months and 18 days across 11 sessions and 165 sitting days. The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 (a Preamble, 395 Articles, 8 Schedules) and commenced on 26 January 1950.

- The Preamble was enacted last, after the rest of the document. The authorised Hindi text derives its authority from Article 394-A, inserted by the 58th Amendment of 1987.

The demand: an assembly of Indians, chosen by Indians

The idea that Indians, not the British Parliament, should write India's Constitution did not arrive all at once. It surfaced first in the demand for swaraj in 1906, was put forward explicitly by the revolutionary thinker M.N. Roy in 1934, and was formally demanded by the Congress in 1935. The British accepted the demand in principle in the August Offer of 1940 and again in the Cripps proposals of 1942, but the Cripps scheme was rejected by the Muslim League, so the matter hung fire until after the war.

What finally broke the deadlock was the Cabinet Mission of 1946. A three-member British delegation (Pethick-Lawrence, Stafford Cripps and A.V. Alexander) proposed a Constituent Assembly scheme that the Congress and, more or less, the Muslim League accepted. In November 1946 the Assembly was constituted under that plan.

A 389-member body, elected indirectly

The original strength of the Constituent Assembly was 389: 296 seats for British India and 93 for the princely states. British India's seats were allotted roughly one per million people and divided among three communities (Muslims, Sikhs and the general category), filled by indirect election through the provincial assemblies under the Government of India Act, 1935, using proportional representation and the single transferable vote. The princely-state seats were to be nominated by the rulers, and most remained vacant because the rulers abstained.

The Assembly was remarkably representative for its time. Its members included Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Parsis, Anglo-Indians, Indian Christians, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and 15 women, among them Sarojini Naidu, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Hansa Mehta, Sucheta Kripalani, G. Durgabai and Dakshayani Velayudhan. Mahatma Gandhi was not a member. After Partition the Muslim League withdrew, and the Assembly's strength fell to 299 (229 from 12 provinces and 70 from 29 princely states).

December 1946: the Assembly meets

The first sitting was held on 9 December 1946, boycotted by the Muslim League. The oldest member, Sachchidananda Sinha, was chosen temporary president, a nod to a French parliamentary practice, and on 11 December Rajendra Prasad was elected permanent president. H.C. Mookerjee and V.T. Krishnamachari became Vice-Presidents.

Two days later, on 13 December, Jawaharlal Nehru moved the Objectives Resolution, the philosophical blueprint of the Constitution. It was adopted on 22 January 1947 and later became the basis of the Preamble. The Assembly also functioned as the country's legislature after the Indian Independence Act, 1947 made it fully sovereign: as the constituent body it was chaired by Rajendra Prasad, and in its legislative capacity by G.V. Mavalankar.

Drafting the document

The Assembly worked through committees. The major ones and their chairs are classic Prelims material:

• Union Powers Committee, Union Constitution Committee and States Committee: Jawaharlal Nehru
• Provincial Constitution Committee and the Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas: Vallabhbhai Patel
• Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee: J.B. Kripalani; Minorities Sub-Committee: H.C. Mookerjee
• Drafting Committee: B.R. Ambedkar
• Rules of Procedure and Steering Committees: Rajendra Prasad

The constitutional adviser B.N. Rau prepared the first draft by October 1947. The seven-member Drafting Committee chaired by Ambedkar (which included N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar, K.M. Munshi, Syed Mohammad Saadullah, N. Madhava Rau and T.T. Krishnamachari) revised it, published a draft in February 1948, invited public comment, and brought a second draft in October 1948. The Assembly held 11 sessions over 165 days, 114 of them on the draft Constitution. The whole exercise took 2 years, 11 months and 18 days and cost about 64 lakh rupees.

The original Constitution was a work of art as well as law: it was handwritten and calligraphed in English by Prem Behari Narain Raizada (with Hindi calligraphy by Vasant Krishan Vaidya), illuminated and decorated by artists led by Nandlal Bose of Shantiniketan, with Beohar Rammanohar Sinha illuminating the Preamble. The two copies, English and Hindi, of about 90,000 words, are preserved in helium-filled cases in Parliament.

Adoption and commencement

On 26 November 1949 the Assembly adopted the Constitution: a Preamble, 395 Articles and 8 Schedules. The Preamble was enacted last, after the rest of the document had been approved. On 24 January 1950 the 284 members present appended their signatures, adopted the national anthem and the national song, and elected Rajendra Prasad as India's first President.

A handful of provisions (citizenship, elections, the provisional Parliament and transitional matters, including Articles 5 to 9, 60, 324 and 366) came into force on 26 November 1949 itself. The rest of the Constitution commenced on 26 January 1950, a date chosen to honour the Purna Swaraj declaration of the Lahore Congress session of December 1929. That is why 26 November is celebrated as Constitution Day (Samvidhan Divas, declared in 2015) and 26 January as Republic Day. The Assembly's seal was an elephant, and after adoption the Assembly continued as India's provisional Parliament until the first general elections of 1951-52.

What the makers borrowed

The Constitution's framers studied other constitutions and adapted what suited India. The Government of India Act, 1935 supplied the federal scheme, the governor's office, the judiciary, the public service commissions, the emergency provisions and much administrative detail. From Britain came parliamentary government, the rule of law, single citizenship, the cabinet system and legislative privileges. From the United States came fundamental rights, an independent judiciary, judicial review and the impeachment and removal procedures. Directive Principles came from Ireland, the strong-centre federation and residuary powers from Canada, the Concurrent List and joint sittings from Australia, the suspension of fundamental rights during emergencies from Weimar Germany, fundamental duties and the justice ideals in the Preamble from the Soviet Union, the republican ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity from France, the amendment procedure from South Africa, and the phrase procedure established by law from Japan. The Hindi text of the Constitution was given constitutional backing much later: Article 394-A, inserted by the 58th Amendment of 1987, makes the President's authorised Hindi translation authoritative.

Prelims hooks

• The demand for a Constituent Assembly was first made officially by the Congress in 1935; M.N. Roy had articulated the idea in 1934.
• The Assembly was constituted in November 1946 under the Cabinet Mission Plan; its first meeting was on 9 December 1946.
• Original strength 389 (296 British India + 93 princely states); after Partition, 299.
• Seats were filled by indirect election through provincial assemblies, by proportional representation with the single transferable vote; there was no universal adult franchise.
• Temporary president: Sachchidananda Sinha; permanent president: Rajendra Prasad (elected 11 December 1946).
• The Objectives Resolution was moved by Nehru on 13 December 1946 and adopted on 22 January 1947.
• The Drafting Committee had seven members and was chaired by B.R. Ambedkar; B.N. Rau was the constitutional adviser and S.N. Mukherjee the chief draftsman.
• Time taken: 2 years, 11 months, 18 days; 11 sessions; 165 days of sittings; cost about 64 lakh rupees.
• Adopted 26 November 1949 (Preamble + 395 Articles + 8 Schedules); commenced 26 January 1950; members signed on 24 January 1950.
• The Preamble was enacted after the rest of the Constitution.
• The Hindi text is authoritative under Article 394-A, inserted by the 58th Amendment, 1987.
• Matching pairs: parliamentary system and rule of law (Britain); fundamental rights and judicial review (USA); Directive Principles (Ireland); strong-centre federation and residuary powers (Canada); Concurrent List and joint sitting (Australia); duties (USSR); amendment procedure (South Africa); procedure established by law (Japan).

Mains angle

The making of the Constitution is a favourite GS-2 theme because it lets you discuss democratic legitimacy. A strong answer opens with the paradox: an indirectly elected, partially nominated body, born under a British plan, produced a document of extraordinary democratic legitimacy. Explain how: the Assembly was broadly representative (communities, women, depressed classes, princely states after Partition), worked through open committee deliberation for nearly three years, invited public comment on the draft, and anchored itself in the Objectives Resolution's promise of justice, equality and freedom.

Then address the standard critiques: the Muslim League boycott and the princely states' absence at first, the Congress's overwhelming majority, and the indirect election. Counter them: the Assembly derived moral authority from the freedom movement, functioned as a fully sovereign body after August 1947, and its product was ratified by acceptance across the political spectrum and by the people's representatives in the first general election. Close by linking to the present: the fact that the Constitution endures, amended over a hundred times yet structurally intact, is the strongest evidence that the process, for all its imperfections, worked.

Key Terms

• Government of India Act, 1935: The Government of India Act, 1935 is the same landmark statute as the unpunctuated entry above, the longest Act of the British Parliament applied to India. Its federal scheme, three lists (federal, provincial and concurrent), provincial autonomy, and Federal Court became the template for independent India's Constitution. It matters for UPSC as the direct ancestor of the present constitutional order: the Constitution borrowed its administrative machinery, and the Act served as India's interim constitution between 1947 and 1950. The Federal Court of India, established in 1937 under the Act, which evolved into the Supreme Court of India in 1950.
• Indian Independence Act, 1947: The Indian Independence Act, 1947 is the British statute that created the Dominions of India and Pakistan on 15 August 1947, following the Mountbatten Plan of 3 June 1947. It provided for the partition of Bengal and Punjab, a Governor-General for each Dominion, and the lapse of British paramountcy over the princely states. For UPSC, it is the legal instrument of partition and the anchor for questions on the constitutional settlement of independence.
• procedure established by law: Procedure established by law is the Article 21 guarantee that no person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty except according to an enacted legal procedure. In A. K. Gopalan (1950) the Supreme Court read it narrowly as any legislative procedure, but in Maneka Gandhi (1978) it held the procedure must be fair, just, and reasonable, effectively importing due-process standards into Indian law. Example: the Maneka Gandhi ruling striking down the arbitrary impounding of a passport. Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India (1978), where the Court struck down the arbitrary impounding of the petitioner's passport.
• Prem Behari Narain Raizada: Prem Behari Narain Raizada is the calligrapher who hand-wrote the original Constitution of India in a flowing italic style, completing 395 articles, 8 schedules and the Preamble over six months in Constitution Hall. Asked his fee, he charged nothing and requested only that his name appear on every page, a wish that was honoured. The Hindi version was written by Vasant Krishan Vaidya. He matters for UPSC because the making of the Constitution is a favourite prelims topic. Constitution adopted on 26 November 1949
• single transferable vote: The single transferable vote is an electoral system in which voters rank candidates by preference and votes transfer from eliminated candidates or surpluses until all seats are filled. It achieves proportional representation without party lists and lets voters choose among candidates of the same party. India uses it for the President, Vice-President, and Rajya Sabha elections. Example: a state assembly's MLAs ranking candidates to fill the state's Rajya Sabha seats. Presidential elections in India, where an electoral college of MPs and MLAs votes by single transferable vote.
• Cabinet Mission Plan: The Cabinet Mission Plan, announced on 16 May 1946, proposed a three-tier federation for India: provinces grouped into sections, with a weak union handling only defence, foreign affairs and communications. A constituent assembly elected indirectly by provincial assemblies would frame the constitution, and the plan rejected a separate Pakistan while allowing provinces to opt out of groups later. For UPSC, its grouping clause and the League's shifting response explain the slide toward partition. An interim government under Jawaharlal Nehru took office in September 1946 under the plan's framework.
• rule of law: The rule of law is the principle that everyone, including the state, is subject to publicly known laws applied equally, with no one above the law. Formulated by A.V. Dicey as supremacy of law, equality before law and constitutionalism, it underpins Article 14 in India. It matters for UPSC because it is a foundational GS-2 concept, invoked in mains answers on governance, judicial review and protection against arbitrary state action. Article 14 of the Indian Constitution
• Objectives Resolution: The Objectives Resolution was moved by Jawaharlal Nehru in the Constituent Assembly on 13 December 1946 and adopted on 22 January 1947. It declared India an independent sovereign republic guaranteeing justice, equality and liberty, and laid down the Assembly's guiding philosophy. It matters for UPSC polity as the direct ancestor of the Preamble, which borrows its language of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. the Preamble of the Indian Constitution, which echoes the Resolution's ideals
• Constituent Assembly: The Constituent Assembly was the body that framed India's Constitution, constituted under the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 with 389 members drawn from provinces, princely states, and chief commissioners' provinces. It met first on 9 December 1946 under Sachchidanand Sinha, with Rajendra Prasad as permanent president, and adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949. For UPSC, it is the foundation of Indian constitutional history and polity. Jawaharlal Nehru moved the Objectives Resolution on 13 December 1946, setting the Assembly's guiding principles.
• Directive Principles: The Directive Principles of State Policy are the non-justiciable guidelines in Part IV (Articles 36 to 51) of the Indian Constitution that direct the state toward social and economic justice. Borrowed from the Irish Constitution, they are fundamental to governance but unenforceable in courts. For UPSC, the tension and harmony between them and Fundamental Rights is a recurring mains theme. In Minerva Mills v. Union of India (1980), the Supreme Court held that the Constitution balances Fundamental Rights with Directive Principles.
• Sachchidananda Sinha: Sachchidananda Sinha was an Indian lawyer, journalist, and Congress leader from Bihar who served as the provisional president (temporary chairman) of the Constituent Assembly. Elected on 9 December 1946 as its senior-most member, he presided over the Assembly's first sitting and conducted the election of Rajendra Prasad as permanent chairman on 11 December 1946. For UPSC, his name marks the Assembly's opening act and the convention that the eldest member presides until a chairman is elected. presided over the Constituent Assembly's first meeting on 9 December 1946
• Drafting Committee: The Drafting Committee was the seven-member committee of the Constituent Assembly, appointed on 29 August 1947 and chaired by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, tasked with preparing the draft of the Indian Constitution. It scrutinized the Assembly's committee reports and produced the text that was debated clause by clause. It matters for UPSC because questions on the making of the Constitution routinely test the Committee's composition, chairmanship, and role. Its other members included N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar, K. M. Munshi, and T. T. Krishnamachari.

Practice questions

Before the Assembly: the colonial statutes that built the frame

The Constituent Assembly did not start from a blank page. For 174 years, from 1773 to 1947, the British Parliament passed a chain of statutes that built the administrative frame independent India inherited: the offices of Governor-General and Viceroy, the provinces, the legislatures, the civil services and even the federal idea itself. UPSC asks about these statutes directly, so treat this section as the Assembly's prehistory.

The fifteen women in the room

Out of the 299 members of the Constituent Assembly, 15 were women, a small but powerful presence. Many had faced child marriage, caste barriers, widowhood and limited education, yet rose to lead. Their impact was lasting: these women strongly advocated for gender equality, fundamental rights and minority protection, leaving a permanent imprint on the Constitution.

A favourite mains framing: the Assembly was elite but not insular, and its women members show how voices from the margins wrote universal rights into the document.

Was it a carbon copy of the 1935 Act?

Critics called the Constitution a carbon copy of the Government of India Act, 1935, a lawyer's paradise, and a bag of borrowings. The similarities are real: the federal structure with a strong Centre, the emergency framework, and institutional continuity in the Governor's office, the Federal Court (now the Supreme Court) and the Public Service Commissions. But the differences are what made it a constitution rather than a colonial statute.

The British legacy survived where it was useful: the parliamentary system on the Westminster model, the hierarchical judicial system with the Supreme Court at the top, the rule of law ensuring equality before the law, the Governor's role modelled on the Governor-General, and the civil services built on the Indian Civil Services tradition.

The standard critiques each have an answer built in. Length and detail ensure clarity across India's diversity. Rigidity versus flexibility is balanced through amendments. Borrowed provisions were adapted to India's context. Legal language brings precision to governance. The unitary bias of a strong Centre enables cooperative federalism. And from the 1935 Act, only administrative structures were borrowed; the democratic principles are original.