Conundrum on the Eve of Decolonization

Abstract

This chapter examines the political history of the tumultuous years leading up to several political discussions on the eve of India’s decolonization. Conventionally appreciated only for its politics, this chapter underscores the influence that this political history had on ideas of constitutionalism. Fundamentally, the chapter points out that the Constituent Assembly (the body that eventually framed independent India’s constitution) emerged out of this political conflict and hence any claim of a presumed sovereignty of the Constituent Assembly must be tempered in the light of this history.