Q – Who gave the idea of a Constituent Assembly firstly for the formation of Constitution for India?
(a) Swaraj party in 1934
(b) Congress party in 1936
(c) Muslim League in 1942
(d) All Parties conference in 1946
I.A.S. (Pre) 1996
Ans. (a)
Explanation – The Swaraj Party in its conference at Ranchi in May 1934 presented the policy of Constituent Assembly. It was to be composed of Indian representative elected on the basis of adult suffrage. It was the first occasion when Indians demanded for a Constituent Assembly.
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Demand for a Constituent Assembly
It was in 1934 that the idea of a Constituent Assembly for India was put forward for the first time by M.N. Roy, a pioneer of communist movement in India.
In 1935, the Indian National Congress (INC), for the first time, officially demanded a Constituent Assembly to frame the Constitution of India.
In 1938, Jawaharlal Nehru, on behalf the INC declared that ‘the Constitution of free India must be framed, without outside interference, by a Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of adult franchise’.
The demand was finally accepted in principle by the British Government in what is known as the ‘August Offer‘ of 1940.
In 1942, Sir Stafford Cripps, a Member of the Cabinet, came to India with a draft proposal of the British Government on the framing of an independent Constitution to be adopted after the World War II.
Finally, a Cabinet Mission was sent to India. It put forth a scheme for the Constituent Assembly which more or less satisfied the Muslim League. The Constituent Assembly was constituted in November 1946 under the scheme formulated by the Cabinet Mission Plan.
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