Write a note on the Constituent Assembly.

(1) The Indian Constitution was made by a Constituent Assembly which had been elected for undivided India.
(2) It held its first sitting on 9 December, 1946 and reassembled on 14 August 1947. Its members were elected by in direct election by the members of the Provisional Legislative Assemblies that had been established in 1935.
(3) It was composed roughly along the lines suggested by the Cabinet Mission. After the partition those members who were elected from territories which fell under Pakistan ceased to be the members of the Constituent Assembly. The numbers in the Assembly were reduced to 299 of which 284 were actually present on 26 November1949 and appended their signature to the Constitution as finally passed.
(4) Although the members of the Assembly were not elected by universal suffrage, there was a serious attempt to make the Assembly are presentative body. 26 members were from scheduled classes. Members of all religions were given representation.
    
In terms of political parties the Congress occupied eighty percent seats in the Assembly. Congress itself was a party which had managed to accommodate almost all shades of opinion within it. The Assembly met for one hundred and sixty six days, spread over two years, eleven months and eighteen days. Its sessions were open to the press and the public alike.