A tumultuous time

The Indian Constitution was framed between December 1946 and November 1949, and came into effect on 26 January 1950. In that time, the Constituent Assembly held eleven sessions, sitting for 165 days.

It was a tumultuous time. In the background were Partition, communal riots, millions of refugees, and the question of the princely states, which had to be brought into the Indian Union.

Members of the Constituent Assembly were not elected by universal franchise: they were chosen by the members of the provincial legislatures. The Muslim League boycotted the early sessions, so the Assembly was dominated by the Congress: 82 per cent of the members were Congress members, though the Congress itself included people of many views.

Some members played key roles: Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and Rajendra Prasad (President of the Assembly); B. R. Ambedkar, Chairman of the Drafting Committee; and lawyers like K. M. Munshi and Alladi Krishnaswamy Aiyar.

They were helped by B. N. Rau, Constitutional Advisor, and S. N. Mukherjee, the chief draughtsman. The debates were public, reported in newspapers, and fill eleven volumes. A divided land was drafting its unity.