Making of the Constitution

Why This Topic Matters for NDA

Almost every NDA General Studies paper carries one to three direct questions from the making of the Constitution. These are clean, fact-based questions — a date, a name, a committee, a borrowed feature — with no reasoning or calculation involved. If you know the fact, the mark is yours in seconds.

This is also the foundation chapter. Once you understand how and why the Constitution was framed, the later chapters on Fundamental Rights, the Preamble and the Union government suddenly make sense, because you know where each idea came from.

The best part for a busy student is that there is nothing to understand deeply here — it is almost pure memory work. There are no concepts to derive, no logic to apply. You simply need to fix a few dozen names and dates firmly in your head, and questions from this chapter become some of the fastest and surest marks in the whole paper. Treat it as a high-scoring warm-up section that gives you confidence before the tougher reasoning chapters.

The Demand for a Constituent Assembly

A Constituent Assembly is a body of elected (or nominated) representatives that meets specifically to write a constitution for a country. Indians had long argued that only Indians — not the British Parliament — should decide India's rulebook.

The idea was first put forward in 1934 by M. N. Roy, a pioneer of the communist movement in India. The Indian National Congress officially demanded a Constituent Assembly in 1935, and in 1938 Jawaharlal Nehru declared that the Constitution of free India must be framed by a Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of adult franchise, without any outside interference.

The British were slow to accept this. They first conceded the principle — with several conditions — through the August Offer of 1940, and then again through the Cripps Mission of 1942. Both attempts failed because the parties rejected the conditions attached. It was only after the Second World War that the demand was finally accepted in a workable form through the Cabinet Mission of 1946. Understanding this slow build-up helps you remember the sequence of events without rote-learning isolated dates.

The Cabinet Mission Plan, 1946

The Cabinet Mission was sent to India in 1946 by the British government. It had three members: Pethick-Lawrence, Stafford Cripps and A. V. Alexander. It rejected the demand for a fully sovereign, separately elected Constituent Assembly but proposed a workable scheme for framing the Constitution.

Under this plan, the Assembly was indirectly elected by the members of the provincial legislative assemblies, using a single transferable vote system of proportional representation. Seats were allotted to each province roughly in proportion to its population — about one seat per million people.

• Total strength planned: 389 members.
• 296 seats for British India + 93 for the Princely States.
• The 296 British-Indian seats were split among General, Muslim and Sikh communities.

Composition and First Meeting

Elections to the 296 British-Indian seats were held in 1946. The Congress won 208 seats and the Muslim League won 73. The Assembly therefore began with a Congress-dominated character.

The Constituent Assembly held its first meeting on 9 December 1946. The Muslim League boycotted it, demanding a separate state of Pakistan. Dr Sachchidananda Sinha, the oldest member, was made the temporary (interim) President of the Assembly.

On 11 December 1946, Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected the permanent President of the Constituent Assembly, and H. C. Mukherjee became the Vice-President. The Assembly also acted as the law-making body of the country until 1950, so it wore two hats at the same time — framing the Constitution and passing ordinary laws for the new dominion.

After Partition in 1947, the membership of the Assembly was reduced. The seats meant for the areas that went to Pakistan fell away, and the Princely States gradually joined in. By the time the Constitution was being finalised, the effective strength stood at about 299 members. This is why you may see different total numbers (389 planned, around 299 final) — both can be correct depending on the moment being described.

The Objectives Resolution

On 13 December 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru moved the historic Objectives Resolution in the Assembly. It laid down the ideals and philosophy that the Constitution should follow — a sovereign, independent republic guaranteeing justice, equality and freedom to all citizens.

This resolution was adopted on 22 January 1947. Its spirit and language were later carried almost word-for-word into the Preamble of the Constitution. So whenever the exam links the Preamble to a source, the answer is the Objectives Resolution.

The resolution declared India to be an independent, sovereign republic; promised justice, equality and freedom to all its people; and guaranteed adequate safeguards for minorities and backward classes. In short, it was a written promise of the kind of country India wanted to become, and the rest of the Constitution was simply the detailed machinery to deliver on that promise.

The Drafting Committee

The Assembly worked through many committees, but the most important was the Drafting Committee, set up on 29 August 1947. Its job was to prepare the actual draft of the Constitution.

It had seven members, chaired by Dr B. R. Ambedkar, who is rightly called the Father of the Indian Constitution. The other members were N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar, K. M. Munshi, Syed Mohammad Saadulla, N. Madhava Rau (who replaced B. L. Mitter) and T. T. Krishnamachari (who replaced D. P. Khaitan).

• Union Powers Committee — chaired by Jawaharlal Nehru.
• Union Constitution Committee — chaired by Jawaharlal Nehru.
• Provincial Constitution Committee — chaired by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
• Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights — chaired by Sardar Patel.

Timeline: How Long It Took

Framing the Constitution was a long, careful process. The Assembly took 2 years, 11 months and 18 days to complete its work and held 11 sessions over this period.

• 9 December 1946 — First meeting of the Constituent Assembly.
• 26 November 1949 — The Constitution was adopted (passed). This day is now celebrated as Constitution Day (Samvidhan Divas).
• 26 January 1950 — The Constitution came into force. India became a Republic. This day is celebrated as Republic Day.

The date 26 January was deliberately chosen because the Congress had celebrated Purna Swaraj (Complete Independence) Day on 26 January 1930. Honouring that pledge, the framers brought the Constitution into force on the same date twenty years later.

Borrowed Sources of the Constitution

The framers studied the constitutions of many countries and borrowed the best features. NDA tests these “source” matchings almost every year, so learn them as fixed pairs.

• Government of India Act, 1935: federal structure, office of Governor, emergency provisions, public service commissions (the single largest source).
• Britain (UK): parliamentary government, rule of law, single citizenship, cabinet system, writs.
• United States (USA): Fundamental Rights, independent judiciary, judicial review, impeachment, post of Vice-President.
• Ireland: Directive Principles of State Policy, nomination of members to Rajya Sabha, method of electing the President.
• Canada: a strong Centre, residuary powers with the Centre, appointment of state Governors.
• Soviet Union (USSR): Fundamental Duties, the ideal of justice (social, economic, political) in the Preamble.
• Australia: Concurrent List, freedom of trade and commerce, joint sitting of Parliament.
• Germany (Weimar): suspension of Fundamental Rights during an emergency.
• South Africa: procedure for amendment of the Constitution, election of Rajya Sabha members.
• France: the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity in the Preamble.

Key People to Remember

NDA often asks “who was associated with...”, so attach each name to its role.

• Dr Rajendra Prasad — President of the Constituent Assembly.
• Dr B. R. Ambedkar — Chairman of the Drafting Committee; Father of the Constitution.
• Sir B. N. Rau — Constitutional Adviser to the Assembly.
• H. V. R. Iyengar — Secretary to the Constituent Assembly.
• Prem Bihari Narain Raizada — the calligrapher who hand-wrote the original Constitution.
• Nandalal Bose — the artist who decorated and illustrated the original document.

Worked Example: Solving a Match-the-Source Question

Let us walk through the most common type of question — matching a feature to the country it was borrowed from. The trick is to fix three anchor pairs first, then eliminate.

Notice how knowing just the “famous” pairs (Ireland, USA) lets you eliminate wrong options even if you are unsure about the rest. That is exactly how toppers crack matching questions quickly.

Previous-Year Style Question

Here is a question in the exact style NDA uses for this chapter. Try it before reading the answer.

Quick Revision Before the Exam