In December 1946, India’s Constituent Assembly convened to draft the constitution for independent India. However, a major political crisis emerged when the Muslim League boycotted the proceedings.
Jawaharlal Nehru moved the Objectives Resolution declaring India an “Independent Sovereign Republic” with autonomous provinces and a Union government.
The Cabinet Mission Plan had proposed a three-tier structure including “Groups of Provinces” as an intermediate tier between Union and provinces. The “grouping” comprised Group A: Hindu-majority, Group B: Muslim-majority northwest, and Group C: Muslim-majority northeast.
Dr Mukund Ramrao Jayakar moved an amendment to postpone the Objectives Resolution until the Muslim League could be persuaded to join the Assembly.
While Dr BR Ambedkar personally favoured a strong Centre, he supported Jayakar’s amendment, arguing that Nehru’s Resolution, by omitting any reference to “grouping”, would justify the Muslim League’s boycott. This disagreement over the grouping provision, crucial for Muslim League participation, eventually contributed to the partition of India.
Listen to Ambedkar’s speech on 17 December 1946 urging the Congress to put aside its differences with the Muslim League in #ThePrintGreatSpeeches.