Muslim League members elected from United Provinces, Bihar and elsewhere came to occupy their seats after partition. Ambedkar, who were elected from territories assigned to Dominion of Pakistan, lost their seats. Biggest change in membership was caused by the declaration of Partition of India. But several members of provincial legislature continued to come and partake in the Assembly until the provision against this was made in the Constitution itself. After passage of the Indian Independence Act by British Parliament it was decided that those members who wish to retain their seats in provincial legislature would vacate their seats in the Assembly. Many public figures showed keenness to enter the Assembly but its membership was also denounced by certain groups like Muslim League, Communists and Socialists. Membership of the Assembly kept varying for different reasons, other than resignation and death.Assembly held 12 sessions, or rounds of sittings:.The Muslim League, which had won bulk of the 80 Muslim seats and dominated two smaller Sections, chose not to participate so the Assembly never convened separately in sections. The Constitutions were to be formulated for Indian Union, each Section and for each of the Provinces therein. The Assembly was to have three sections: Punjab & North-West, Bengal-Assam and Rest of India.Bulk of these elections was completed by the end of July 1946, under the supervision of Reforms Office under Governor General (Viceroy). The Assembly was to have proportional representation from existing provincial legislatures and from various princely states.Its task was to formulate constitution/s for facilitating appropriate transfer of sovereign power from British authorities to Indian hands. The Constituent Assembly of India came into existence as per the provisions of Cabinet Mission Plan of May 1946.
SALIENT FEATURES OF CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY OF INDIA We present this package with a hope that more and more people will realise that the Constitution is not a holy book but a functional manual. It is desirable that Constitution becomes accessible by common citizen and doesn’t just remain preserve of lawyers and scholars.
On this occasion, Down to Earth is putting together a special package in collaboration with Jana Vidhi Muhim, which is working on spreading constitutional literacy especially on countering ignorance and misinformation. Thus started a historical journey which saw India attainting independence, deciding on its national flag, national insignia, national anthem and ultimately adoption of the Constitution which made our country a democratic republic. Salient features of the Constituent AssemblyĮxactly 70 years ago the Constituent Assembly of India sat for the first time on December 9, 1946.