The Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26th November 1949 and it came into force on 26th January 1950. Every law of the land enacted by the government must conform to the constitution. India became independent from the colonial rule of the British Empire and a need for a competent government aroused. However, during the prominence of the British Raj, the Government of India Act 1935 was passed, which was the last constitution of India during the British rule. The act laid down principles stating and granting autonomy to the Indian provinces. The Government of India act also provided for establishment of an Indian Federation and the Provincial assemblies include more elected Indian representatives, who in turn could lead majorities and form governments. But Governors retained discretionary powers regarding summoning of legislatures, giving assents to bills and administering certain special regions. This present constitution of India is modeled on the basis of the Government of India Act.
After the Second World War came to an end, a new government came to power in the United Kingdom. A new British government announced its Indian Policy in 1946, at the initiative of British Prime Minister Clement Attlee. A cabinet mission was formulated to discuss and finalize plans for the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian leadership and providing India with independence. The main aim of the Cabinet Mission was to discuss the framework of the Constitution of India and lay down the procedure to be followed by the constitution drafting body. The constitution was drafted by the Constituent Assembly and it was elected by the elected members of the provincial assemblies. Sachidanand Sinha was chosen as the first president of the Constituent Assembly and later Rajendra Prasad was elected president of the Constituent Assembly. The Constitute Assembly of India consisted of the prominent figures of the nation including Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajagopalachari, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad as well as Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. The assembly also comprised of members from the Anglo-Indian community, scheduled classes, Parsis community and the Gorkha Community. Women members were also represented the constituent assembly and Sarojini Naidu was a well-known women member.
The constituent assembly met on August 14, 1947 and various decisions were taken in the committee. The concept of Indian Flag was taken in the assembly meeting. A flag with three colours, Saffron, White and Green with the Ashoka Chakra was selected. Furthermore, the National Emblem of India was decided and it has been taken from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. The Indian Government adapted it on 26th January 1950 when the country became a republic. 
In addition to that it was decided to form a drafting committee with Dr.B.R.Ambedkar as the Chairman along with six other members. A Draft Constitution was prepared by the Drafting Committee of Indian Constitution and submitted to the Assembly on November 4, 1947. The assembly finally took over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days before adopting the Constitution. The Constitution of India opens with the Preamble which is like the preface of the constitution. The Preamble is not a part of the Constitution of India as it is not enforceable in a court of law. Nevertheless, the Preamble is useful as an interpretive tool. It is an integral part of the constitution and describes the basic structure of the Constitution of India. The Preamble of the constitution of India puts forth:
In addition to that it was decided to form a drafting committee with Dr.B.R.Ambedkar as the Chairman along with six other members. A Draft Constitution was prepared by the Drafting Committee of Indian Constitution and submitted to the Assembly on November 4, 1947. The assembly finally took over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days before adopting the Constitution. The Constitution of India opens with the Preamble which is like the preface of the constitution. The Preamble is not a part of the Constitution of India as it is not enforceable in a court of law. Nevertheless, the Preamble is useful as an interpretive tool. It is an integral part of the constitution and describes the basic structure of the Constitution of India. The Preamble of the constitution of India puts forth:"We, The People of India, Having Solemnly Resolved To Constitute India Into A Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic and to secure to all its citizens:
Justice, social, economic and political;
Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
Equality of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all
Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;
In Our Constituent Assembly This Twenty-Sixth Day of November, 1949, Do Hereby
Adopt, Enact and Give To Ourselves This Constitution"
However, the original draft of the constitution had only the words `Sovereign Democratic Republic` in the first line. The words `Socialist and Secular` were inserted by the 42nd amendment and the words `Unity of the Nation` were changed to `Unity and Integrity of the Nation.`
The structure of the Constitution of India comprise of the preamble, twenty-two parts containing three hundred and ninety five articles, twelve schedules of Indian Constitution, ninety-four amendments of Indian Constitution, and five appendices. The Constitution distributes its legislative powers between Parliament and State legislatures. The residuary powers invest in the Parliament and the centrally administered territories are called Union Territories. The Constitution provides for a Parliamentary form of government which is federal in structure with certain unitary features. The constitutional head of the Executive of the Union is the President. Since the enactment of the constitution has supported for a steady concentration of power to the central government, especially to Prime Minister Office or the (PMO). In Article 79 of the Constitution of India it is laid down that the council of the Parliament of the Union will consist of the President and two Houses as the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and the House of the People (Lok Sabha). In Article 74(1), it is stated that the Constitution provides that there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head to aid and advise the President. The real executive power is thus vested in the Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head.
The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the House of the People (Lok Sabha). Every State of India will have a Legislative Assembly. However, a few States have an upper House, also called State Legislative Council. The constitution also puts it as there will be a Governor for each state and the executive power of the State is vested in him. He is appointed by the President as the Head of the State. The Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister as its head advises the Governor in the discharge of the executive functions. The Council of the Ministers of a state is collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the State. All the ministers in the state and the union level are elected by the citizens of India. The first Indian General Elections conducted in India in 1951, for 489 constituencies representing 26 Indian states. There were a few two-seat and even a three-seat constituency only.
The Constitution of India is the lengthiest written document. It is flexible as well as a quasi -federal in nature. The constitution discusses about the Central, State Governments, Union Territories, their offices, the Supreme Court, High Courts, other Courts, the Election Commission of India and all other Government bodies function. One of the salient features of the constitution of India is its federal character. The Indian Union comprises of the Central and State Governments and the Union Territories. There are 28 States and 6 Union Territories. The States of India are divided on the basis of the languages spoken by the people. Another feature of the constitution is its single Citizenship. Though India is a federal country, Indian Citizenship Act of 1955 mentions the qualifications to acquire citizenship rights. It can be acquired by birth, descent, registration, naturalization and other specified ways.
The citizens of Indian are ensured of certain Fundamental Rights and Fundamental Duties by the Constitution. All Indian citizens are guaranteed six Fundamental Rights. Another feature of the Indian constitution is the Directive Principles of State Policy. The Constitution of India provides its Government to take policy decisions and implement them for the welfare of the Indian people. Indian constitution is an extensive document and its features are from Western legal traditions. The constitution of India has adopted its characteristics from the British Constitution, United States Constitution, Irish Constitution, French Constitution, Canadian Constitution, Australian Constitution and Soviet Constitution. In 1947, India attained her independence and in 1950 became a Sovereign Socialist Democratic Republic. With this the Indian Constitution came into force, which introduced the Universal adult franchise where every citizen of India (above the age of 21 which was later reduced to 18) was given the right to vote to choose the Government of India. Since then, elections have played an integral part in Indian politics. Elections in India have come a long way and each time has displayed the power of the individual in a democracy.
In India, elections are a very elaborate process, which involves a series of processes from announcement of election dates by the Election Commissioner of India, casting of votes by the citizens, to the announcement of results and submission of the list of successful candidates to the executive head of the state. This marks the end of the election process after which a new government is formed.
The first general election in India after independence was conducted in 1951, for 489 constituencies representing twenty-six states. During that time, few two seats and even three seat constituencies prevailed but after 1960 the system of multi seat constituencies were discontinued. Till the early 1970`s Congress dominated Indian politics. After the emergency was pulled off, in the 1977 elections the Congress was defeated by the unlikely coalition of all the major parties. In the elections of 1980, the Congress Government came back with a sweeping victory.
The 1990`s were a decade of instable coalition governments. It was a weak phase in Indian politics when governments were formed and broken. The Indian General Elections of 1996 did not give a proper verdict. BJP was invited to form the Government and Atal Bihari Vajpayee formed a cabinet. But this Government lasted for thirteen days. After this, non- BJP, non-Congress parties formed the United Front government. This Government lasted for two years with two Prime Ministers, H.D.Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujaral.
The 13th General Elections was held few months after the Kargil War. With this in 1999 the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was formed with BJP being the leading coalition partner. Atal Bihari Vaijpayee became the Prime Minister of India thus ending the instability at the Center.
The 14th General elections were held in 2004, where 543 members were elected. The BJP led Coalition NDA was defeated after the Indian National Congress was able to put together a majority. A coalition government was formed which was called United Progressive Alliance. Dr. Manmohan Singh became the Prime Minister of India.A Constituent Assembly is a body composed for the purpose of drafting or adopting a Constitution. It played an important role in creating the Constitution of India. The Constituent Assembly of India was set up by the Indian leaders and members of the British Cabinet Mission. It was formed by the elected members of the provincial assemblies of India which was presided over by Dr. Sachidanand Sinha, who was the temporary chairman of the Assembly.
In the Constituent Assembly of India there were members from the Congress as well as from Muslim League. There were also members from the Scheduled Caste Federation, the Communist Party of India and Unionist party in the Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assembly of India included sections of Christians, Anglo-Indians and Minority Community. The final Constituent Assembly of India had two hundred and seven representatives, including fifteen women. There were about ninety three members nominated from the princely states and The Congress secured a huge majority
The members of the Constituent Assembly of India were chosen by indirect election by the members of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies which was according to the recommendation of the Cabinet Mission. The Cabinet Missions stated that: There should be 292 members were elected through the Provincial Legislative Assemblies; 93 members represented the Indian Princely States; and 4 members represented the Chief Commissioners` Provinces. The total membership of the Assembly thus was to be 389.
Dr. Rajendra Prasad became the President of the Assembly. Harendra Coomar Mookerjee was the Minority Community Chairman. . While H P Modi served as the representative of the Parsi community, Frank Anthony headed the Anglo-Indian section of the country in the Constituent Assembly. Quite a large number of female personalities were also present in the Constituent Assembly in India including Vijaylakshmi Pandit and Sarojini Naidu. Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajagopalachari, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee were some important figures in the Assembly.
The members of the Constituent Assembly met for the first time in the year 1946 on December 9. On August 15, 1947, India became an independent nation, and the Constituent Assembly served as the first Parliament of India. The Constituent Assembly took almost three years to complete the task of drafting the Constitution for Independent India. During this period, it held eleven sessions. Various Committees were formed in the Constituent Assembly of India. Dr. B.R Ambedkar was the chairman of the drafting committee in the Constituent Assembly of India.The Preamble of Indian Constitution reflects the basic structure and the spirit of the Constitution. It is regarded that the preamble serves as a channelising tool for the interpretation of the Constitution as a whole. The preamble acts as the preface of the constitution of India and lays down the fundamental value and philosophical ideas. It represents the entire Constitution in its written words. It contains the basic features of the Constitution and thus considered to be a vital part. The preamble is significant because it highlights the type of society and government it wishes to establish. However, the preamble does not contain laws enforceable in a court but, no law can be enacted or amended in a manner that violates the spirit of the preamble. Thus the preamble of the constitution of India is unamendable or unalterable.
The Preamble of Indian Constitution states:
"WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:
The preamble was adopted with the constitution in the constituent assembly. It came into effect in 1950 along with the constitution. The original draft of the constitution opened with the words `Sovereign Democratic Republic` in the first line. The words `Socialist and Secular` were inserted by the 42nd amendment. The same amendment contributed to the changes of the words unity of the nation into unity and integrity of the nation. The significance of the Preamble of Indian Constitution lies in the "We, the people". These words emphasizes that the ultimately powers are vested in the hands of the people of India. The expressions state that the constitution is made by and made for the people of India. In addition to that, the Preamble also lays down the essential national goals for every citizen justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity.
According to the Preamble of Indian Constitution, the word `Sovereign` occupies a vital role in the country. It means supreme or independent and embodies India is internally and externally sovereign and is free from the control of any foreign power. Furthermore, the country has a free government which is directly elected by the people and makes laws that govern the people. The word `Socialist` also has significance as it implies social and economic equality. The word was added by the 42nd amendment act of 1976 during the Emergency. In addition to that Social equality identifies the absence of discrimination on the grounds only of caste, colour, creed, sex, religion, or language. Besides, social equality has equal status and opportunities. The preamble also guarantees secularism. The word `Secular` was also inserted into the Preamble by the 42nd amendment act of 1976, during The Emergency. Secularism, implies equality of all religions and religious tolerance and does not identify any official state religion.
Preamble of Indian Constitution is also puts forth the terms, Democratic and Republic. India follows a democratic form of government. The people of India elect their governments at all levels such as Union, State and local by a system of universal adult franchise. India is also a Republic, in a country where the head of state is elected, directly or indirectly, for a fixed tenure. The President of India is the titular head of the state. Thus, the Preamble plays pivotal role and serves two purpose including and indicate to the source from which the Constitution derives its authority and stating the objects, which the Constitution seeks to establish and promote.The constitution of India provides its citizens certain Fundamental Rights. These rights and duties are among the vital sections of the Constitution and prescribe the fundamental obligations of the State to its citizens and the duties of the citizens to the State. These essential elements of the constitution were developed between 1947 and 1949 by the Constituent Assembly of India. Part III of the Constitution of India defines the Fundamental Rights. These rights are basic human rights of all citizens and can be applied irrespective of race, place of birth, religion, caste, creed or gender. They are enforceable by the courts, subject to specific restrictions. Rights are synonymous to freedoms and these rights or freedom is essential for personal good as well as the good of the community. In addition to that the rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India are fundamental because they have been incorporated into the Fundamental Law of the Land and are enforceable in a court of law.
Fundamental Rights of the Constitution of India is preserved in order to guarantee civil liberties to all its citizens, to provide a peaceful and harmonious life. These rights are individual rights and include equality before law, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of association and peaceful assembly, freedom to practice religion, and the right to constitutional remedies for the protection of civil rights by means of writs such as habeas corpus. The concept of issuing rights to the citizens has been developed from the England`s Bill of Rights; the United States Bill of Rights and also France`s Declaration of the Rights of Man. Anyone violating the fundamental rights of the land can face result punishments in the court of law.
The constitution of India guarantees six Fundamental Rights to the citizens. The Right to Equality` is the foremost right guaranteed to the citizens of India. It is provided in Articles 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 of the constitution. This right is regarded as the principal foundation of all other rights and liberties. The Right to Equality guarantees Equality before law according to which citizens shall be equally protected by the laws of the country. Article 15 of the constitution lays down that there will be Social equality and equal access to public areas and no person shall be discriminated on the basis of caste, colour, and language. Equality in matters of public employment is provided in Article 16 that describes that all citizens can apply for government jobs and state cannot discriminate against anyone in the matters of employment. Article 17 of the constitution puts forth Abolition of untouchability. The Practice of untouchability is an offense and anyone doing so is punishable by law. Abolition of Titles is another right to equality in considered in the Article 18 of the constitution. It prohibits the State from conferring any titles to the Citizens of India.
Among the Fundamental Rights, Right to freedom is included in the articles 19, 20, 21 and 22. Right to freedom includes Freedom of speech and expression, Freedom to assemble peacefully without arms, Freedom to form associations or unions and Freedom to move freely throughout the territory of India. Furthermore, Right to freedom also states that citizens have the Freedom to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India and also have the Freedom to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business. However, subject to reasonable restrictions by the State in the interest of the general public. Certain safeguards are envisaged to protect the citizens from exploitation and coercion
Right against exploitation is another essential among the Fundamental Rights. This right is given in the Articles 23 and 24. It provides for two provisions such as abolition of trafficking in human beings and Begar or forced labour. The right also lays down abolition of employment of children below the age of 14 years in dangerous jobs like factories and mines.
Right to freedom of religion is included under articles 25, 26, 27 and 28. It provides religious freedom to all citizens of India and sustains the principle of secularism in India. The Constitution provides that all religions are equal before the State and no religion shall be given preference over the other. Citizens are free to preach, practice and propagate any religion of their choice.
Fundamental Rights also provided Cultural and educational rights to its citizens and it is covered in Articles 29 and 30. According to this right ant community which has a language and a script of its own has the right to conserve and develop them. No citizen can be discriminated against for admission in State or State aided institutions. All minorities, religious or linguistic, can set up their own educational institutions in order to preserve and develop their own culture. Right to constitutional remedies is also provided in the constitution. This right authorizes the citizens to move a court of law in case of any denial of the fundamental rights. The courts can issue various kinds of writs and these writs such as habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari. These writs help preserving and safeguarding the fundamental rights of the citizens of India.
Another prominent among the Fundamental Rights was the Right to property. Right to property in order to guarantee to all citizens the right to acquire hold and dispose off property. However, the 44th amendment act of 1978 deleted the right to property from the list of Fundamental Rights. Article 300-A, was added to the constitution which provided that "no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law".
Fundamental rights are those freedoms given to the citizens of India. They help not only in protection but also the prevention of gross violations of human rights. They emphasize on the fundamental unity of India by guaranteeing to all citizens the access and use of the same facilities, irrespective of caste, colour, creed and religion. The fundamental rights were provided to the citizens primarily protect individuals from any arbitrary state actions, but some rights are enforceable against individuals. The Fundamental Rights can only be altered by a constitutional amendment. In addition to that during national and state emergency, the Fundamental Rights remain suspended. As the Fundamental rights are defined as the basic human rights, the Fundamental Duties are defined as the moral obligations of all citizens and have worked to develop unity in the nation.
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