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India, that is Bharat

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India, that is, Bharat became a Sovereign Democratic Republic officially on 26 January 1950. Prior to this event the Constitution was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949. This date of January 26 was taken as a day of reckoning for becoming India a Republic because this was the day when India Celebrated its Poorna Swaraj Diwas (Complete independence day) earlier on 26th January 1930. It should be noted that till December 1929 Congress fought for Swaraj only asking for Dominion status just like Canada and Australia within British empire. But Bose and Nehru prevailed upon Gandhi and Patel to change the mode of freedom struggle to drive the British out fully from the soil of India for ever. At last Congress declared Poorna Swaraj its sole aim in December 1929.

And it is also important to note that there was not a single English man in the The Constituent Assembly. All the members were Indians elected by the People of India. And the Constituent Assembly met for the first time in New Delhi on 9 December 1946 and conducted its sessions debating each and every Article threadbare till 26th November 1949. And ultimately adopted the Constitution on 26th January 1950 declaring India a Sovereign Democratic Republic.

Jawaharlal Nehru

On 13.12.1946 first Assembly meeting was held with Sachchidananda Sinha as provisional chairman. At that time the scope of the Assembly was delineated by Jawaharlal Nehru like this, “The first task of this Assembly is to free India through a new Constitution, to feed the starving people, and to clothe the naked masses, and to give every Indian the fullest opportunity to develop himself according to his capacity. This is certainly a great task. Look at India today. We, are sitting here and there in despair in many places, and unrest in many cities. The atmosphere is surcharged with these quarrels and feuds which are called communal disturbances, and unfortunately, we sometimes cannot avoid them. But at present the greatest and most important question in India is how to solve the problem of the poor and the starving. Wherever we turn, we are confronted with this problem. If we cannot solve this problem soon, all our paper Constitutions will become useless and purposeless. Keeping this aspect in view, who could suggest to us to postpone and wait?”

Originally Jawaharlal Nehru and Sachchidananda Sinha created the first draft of Indian Constitution. B N Rau also furnished a draft constitution as an Advisor to Constituent Assembly. It must be remembered that B N Rau was instrumental in the preparation of Government of India Act 1935 with respect to Federal structure of the Indian Unioin.

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During the process of drafting of the Constitution the Objectives Of Indian Constitution and goals of The Constitution’s were articulated in a resolution proposed by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and ratified by the Legislative Council on December 13, 1946. The resolution’s central tenets were as follows:

India should be declared an independent sovereign republic by Resolve.

To create a democratic Community with equitable self-government to all its component members.

The people give the union government and the governments of the constituent elements all of their power and authority.

To ensure and safeguard the safety of all Indians. Moral, fiscal, and political justice are all important.

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Benegal Narsimha Rau, B N Rau

Actually, Benegal Narsimha Rau was appointed as Advisor for making the Constitution and he was instrumental in framing the rules of Federal structure of the Indian Union in the Constitution. He visited several countries like France and USA to study their federal systems. The draft of B.N. Rau consisted of 243 articles and 13 schedules which came to 395 articles and 8 schedules after discussions, debates and amendments.

B. R. Ambedkar in his concluding speech in constituent assembly on 25 November 1949 stated that: “The credit that is given to me does not really belong to me. It belongs partly to Sir B.N. Rau the Constitutional Advisor to the Constituent Assembly who prepared a rough draft of the Constitution for the consideration of Drafting Committee.”

Jawaharlal Nehru headed Committees on Union Constitution, Union Powers and States Committee. Sardar Patel headed Provincial Constitution Committee.

And Steering Committee was headed by Dr. Rajendra Prasad. And he was the President of the Constituent Assembly and also, he was the President of India at that time.

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Dr. B R Ambedkar

Dr. B R Ambedkar was Chairman of Drafting committee of the Constitution of India.

Constituent Assembly

The Concept of having a Constituent Assembly was first mooted by M N Roy in 1934. Earlier Motilal Nehru presented a proposal for Constitution in 1928 which was called as Nehru Report. Actually this report formed the basis for Government of India Act. of 1935. Benegal Narsimha rau made his valuable contribution in the drafting of 1935 Act especially with respect to Federal structure of the Constitution.

210 members elected from Provinces, and 64 members nominated by the Princely States participated in in the debates of the Constituent Assembly.

The Assembly met for a total number of 165 days between 1946 and 1950. Out of which 46 days were spent on preliminary discussion in the Assembly and 101 days were spent on the clause-by-clause discussion of the draft Constitution. The issue of Fundamental Rights was discussed for 16 days.

Here I give some important Articles beginning from Preamble of the Constitution for ready reading as it is from the Constitution

equality of position, opportunity, and legal standing.

the freedom of thinking, speech, religion, faith, worship, affiliation, and action

Minority groups in underdeveloped and rural regions and the impoverished and perhaps other backward groups have proper protections.

Maintaining the Nation’s territorial sovereignty and right of self-determination on ground, sea, and air under the equity and law of civilized countries. To ensure India’s legitimate and respected position in the globe.

Assist in the advancement of world peace and humanity’s well-being. These goals are enshrined in the Constitution’s Preamble.