Revision summary
The Cabinet Mission Plan, 1946, designed an indirectly elected Constituent Assembly. Provincial assemblies chose 296 British-India seats by STV; princely states nominated 93. Original strength 389 fell to 299 after Partition. Dr Rajendra Prasad presided; Dr Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee. That elite college still claimed popular authority through the Objective Resolution.
Model answer
Introduction
The Constituent Assembly of India was not elected by universal adult franchise. It was designed by the Cabinet Mission Plan, 1946, filled from provincial assemblies and princely nominations, and then cut after Partition.
Body
How the Assembly was composed
- Provincial Legislative Assemblies elected 296 members from British India by proportional representation with a single transferable vote, so the founding house was indirectly chosen.
- Seats were allotted among General, Muslim, and Sikh communities; ninety-three seats for Indian States were filled by the rulers’ nominees, not by the people of those States.
- Original sanctioned strength was 389. After Partition, members from the Pakistan areas left and the working house fell to 299.
Who sat and how work was organised
- The Indian National Congress held a large majority; the Muslim League’s boycott and later exit thinned the Muslim voice in the reduced Assembly.
- Dr Sachchidananda Sinha sat as temporary Chairman; Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected President; Sir B.N. Rau was Constitutional Adviser.
- The Drafting Committee chaired by Dr B.R. Ambedkar, with Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar, K.M. Munshi and others, turned a large house into a drafting workshop.
Why that composition matters
- Indirect election and princely nomination mean an elite college wrote the text, yet it claimed popular authority through Nehru’s Objective Resolution of 13 December 1946.
- Continuity from 9 December 1946 to adoption on 26 November 1949 let the same body sit later as the provisional Parliament after 26 January 1950.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD C[Cabinet Mission 1946] --> P[Provincial assemblies STV] C --> S[Princely nominees] P --> A[Assembly 389 then 299] S --> A A --> D[President and Drafting Committee] D --> T[Constitution adopted 26 Nov 1949]
Conclusion
- Composition of the Constituent Assembly means a Cabinet-Mission house: indirectly elected, communally allotted, completed by princely nominees, and reduced to 299 after Partition. Organised under a President and the Drafting Committee, that mix is the body that produced the Constitution of India.
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Was the Constituent Assembly directly elected by the people?
No. Members from British India were elected by provincial assemblies. Princely-state members were nominated by the rulers.
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Did the Assembly continue after 26 January 1950?
Yes. The same body functioned as the provisional Parliament until the first Lok Sabha was constituted after the 1951–52 general election.
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