75 yrs of the Constituent Assembly’s 1st sitting

• At 11 am on 9th December 1946, the first session of the Constituent Assembly began.
• With 211 members attending the session, the assembly was constituted of distinguished people who came together from different backgrounds and even with different ideologies with one aim ahead of them – to give the people of India a worthy Constitution.

The day to Remember:

• With the purpose of drafting the constitution of India, the Constituent Assembly met for the first time in New Delhi on 9th December 1946, in the Constitution Hall which is now known as the Central Hall of Parliament House.
• The first sitting of the Constituent Assembly was Presided over by Dr Sachchidananda Sinha, who was the eldest member of the Assembly.
• He was introduced and conducted to the Chair by Acharya Kripalani.
• The total number of members in the Assembly at that time was 389, which was reduced to 299 after the Partition.

Drafting of constitution

• The Constituent Assembly took two years, eleven months and seventeen days (to be precise) in order to complete its historic task of drafting the Constitution for Independent India.
• During this time, the assembly held 11 sessions covering a total of 165 days.
• The Objectives Resolution was moved by the then-Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, on 13 December, 1946. It was adopted unanimously as the Preamble on 22 January, 1947.
• On 15 August 1947, the Assembly took over as the Legislative Assembly of independent India.
• The Constitution was adopted by the Assembly on 26 November, 1949, which is marked as Constitution Day in the country.
• The document came into force on 26 January, 1950, which has been marked Republic Day in the country since then.