The making
How the Constitution was made
The Constitution was not handed down. It was argued into existence, line by line, by an Assembly that sat for the better part of three years — and the heaviest share of the drafting fell on one man in failing health. Told here through the primary record, chiefly the Constituent Assembly Debates (CAD).
India · 1946–1950
The Constitution of India
Adopted 26 Nov 1949 · In force 26 Jan 1950
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The labour
The Constituent Assembly worked for 2 years, 11 months, and 18 days. The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950.
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The charter
The Assembly set its aim early. On 13 December 1946 Nehru moved the Objectives Resolution — the pledge to secure justice, liberty and equality for all — which was debated, adopted, and became the seed of the Preamble. The destination was fixed before the drafting began.
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The appointment
B. R. Ambedkar was elected Chairman of the Drafting Committee on 29 August 1947.
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The burden
The load fell on one man. In the Assembly, T. T. Krishnamachari observed that of the seven-member Drafting Committee, one had resigned and been replaced, one had died, one was away in America, another absorbed in state affairs, and one or two were unwell — so the burden fell on Dr. Ambedkar alone. In his own words:
So it happened ultimately that the burden of drafting this Constitution fell on Dr. Ambedkar and I have no doubt that we are grateful to him for having achieved this task in a manner which is undoubtedly commendable.
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The cost
He drafted in failing health — diabetic, in neuropathic leg pain, on insulin, and often sleepless.
- 26 Jan 1950
The bookend
The thesis of this site, made flesh: the same man who publicly burned the Manusmṛti at Mahad on 25 December 1927 authored the code that replaced it. The burning and the drafting are the two ends of one act.
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The warning
He closed on 25 November 1949 with warnings that still circulate. On abandoning constitutional methods once the constitutional path is open: 'These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are abandoned, the better for us.' On worship in politics: 'Bhakti in religion may be a road to the salvation of the soul. But in politics, Bhakti or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship.' And on the contradiction the new code would inherit:
On the 26th of January 1950, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality.
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The contemporaneous objection
The contest over which code should govern was live at the time. The RSS journal Organiser (30 November 1949, and 6 February 1950 under the line 'Manu Rules our Hearts') objected that the new Constitution contained nothing of the Manusmṛti — contemporaneous primary evidence that the two codes were understood, then, to be competing.
The quotations marked “verbatim” have been checked word-for-word against the official Constituent Assembly Debates — Krishnamachari (5 Nov 1948) and Ambedkar's closing address (25 Nov 1949). Don't take our word for it: read them yourself. See Check it yourself.