Section 01 of 6 ·~3 min

Demand Timeline & The Cabinet Mission Plan (1934-1946)

The demand for an indigenous Constituent Assembly to frame India's constitution was first put forward in 1934 by M.N. Roy, a pioneer of the communist movement in India and exponent of radical humanism. In 1935, the Indian National Congress (INC) officially demanded a Constituent Assembly, reaffirmed at the 1936 Faizpur session under Jawaharlal Nehru.

In 1938, Jawaharlal Nehru declared on behalf of the INC that the Constitution of free India must be framed by an assembly elected on the basis of adult franchise, without outside interference. The British Government accepted the demand in principle for the first time in the August Offer of 1940 (Viceroy Lord Linlithgow, stating the body would consist "mainly of Indians"). The Cripps Mission of 1942 offered a post-war assembly with Dominion status, but was rejected by Congress and the Muslim League.

The Constituent Assembly was formulated under the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 (arrived March 24, 1946; announced May 16, 1946). The 3-member mission comprised Lord Pethick-Lawrence (Secretary of State for India), Sir Stafford Cripps (President of Board of Trade), and A.V. Alexander (First Lord of Admiralty). The Plan rejected the Muslim League's demand for two separate Constituent Assemblies and formulated a single 389-member assembly for undivided India.2016

Evolution of the Demand for the Constituent Assembly (1934-1946)
  1. 1934M.N. Roy puts forward the formal idea of a Constituent Assembly
  2. 1935INC officially demands a Constituent Assembly (Faizpur 1936)
  3. 1938Jawaharlal Nehru demands an assembly elected by universal adult franchise
  4. 1940August Offer: British accept demand in principle ("mainly of Indians")
  5. 1942Cripps Mission: Draft declaration proposing post-war assembly
  6. 1946Cabinet Mission Plan: Formulates the 389-seat Constituent Assembly

Checkpoint

1 PYQs (2016)·4 cards ·1 traps