Q143
Indian PolityMaking of the Constitution & Salient Features
Members of the Constituent Assembly were
- a.elected by Provincial Assemblies
- b.elected directly by people
- c.nominated by British Government
- d.represented only by the Princely States
Answer: (A) elected by Provincial Assemblies
Under the Cabinet Mission Plan (1946) the Constituent Assembly had 389 seats: 296 for British India and 93 for the princely states. The British Indian members were elected indirectly by the members of the provincial legislative assemblies through proportional representation by single transferable vote, and the states' representatives were nominated by their rulers. So the members were not directly elected by the people, not nominated by the British government, and not drawn only from the princely states. The Assembly first met on 9 December 1946; Dr Rajendra Prasad was its President and Dr Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee. After Partition its strength fell to 299.