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Question 33 of 58 · Making & Sources of the Constitution
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In the Constituent Assembly, as originally planned under the Cabinet Mission Plan, how many seats were allotted to the princely states?

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Answer: Option D — 93

Detailed Solution

Under the Cabinet Mission Plan (1946), the princely states were allotted 93 seats in the Constituent Assembly.

Composition of the Constituent Assembly (as planned):

  • The total strength was fixed at 389.
  • 296 seats were allotted to British India: 292 members from the eleven governors' provinces and 4 from the four chief commissioners' provinces (Delhi, Ajmer-Merwara, Coorg and British Baluchistan).
  • 93 seats were allotted to the princely states.

Principles of allocation:

  • The seats were allotted to each province and princely state roughly in proportion to its population, at about one seat for every million people.
  • The seats of each province were divided among three communities: Muslims, Sikhs and general (all others), in proportion to their population.
  • The representatives of each community were elected by the members of that community in the provincial legislative assembly, by the method of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.
  • The representatives of the princely states were to be nominated by the heads of the states.

Participation of the princely states:

  • The princely states at first stayed away from the Assembly.
  • Gradually, as the states joined India, their representatives took their seats in the Assembly.
  • Hyderabad did not send its representatives for a long time.

Effects of partition:

After partition, the members from the areas that went to Pakistan left the Assembly, and its strength was reduced.

Nature of the Assembly:

  • The Assembly was not elected directly by the people on the basis of universal adult franchise, but it represented almost all sections of Indian society.
  • It included members of different religions, castes, regions and political views.
  • The Congress had a large majority, but the Assembly also included many members who were not Congressmen.

Why not the other options?

  • ✗50, 75 and 100 are not the number of seats allotted to the princely states.

Quick tip

Remember: Constituent Assembly (Cabinet Mission Plan) = 389 seats: 296 for British India (292 provinces + 4 chief commissioners' provinces) and 93 for the princely states.

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Making & Sources of the Constitution — Preparation

This question tests your understanding of Making & Sources of the Constitution, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.

This topic covers how the Indian Constitution was made: the Constituent Assembly, its committees and members, the drafting process and key dates, and the features India borrowed from other constitutions, such as the parliamentary system from Britain and Fundamental Rights from the USA. Exams frequently ask who chaired the Drafting Committee (B. R. Ambedkar), who was President of the Constituent Assembly (Rajendra Prasad), and when the Constitution was adopted (26 November 1949) and came into force (26 January 1950). Questions on borrowed features are very common, so learn a table of features and their source countries. Practise the making of the Constitution questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.

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