Explained: What is Constitution Day? what was November 26 observed as before 2015?

New Delhi, Nov 26: Since 2015, the Constitution Day is celebrated on November 26 every year. This day, also called the National Law Day, commemorates the formal adoption of the Constitution of India by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949.

However, the Constitution of India came to force on January 26, 1950 - celebrated as the Republic Day.

The Constitution Day

In May 2015, Narendra Modi government announced that November 26 will be observed as Constitution Day every year to promote constitutional values among citizens.

It can be seen that the year 2015 marked the 125th anniversary of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution. The Central governments Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment notified November 26 as Constitution Day on November 19, 2015.

Earlier, the day was observed as National Law Day as a tribute to Ambedkar, the first law minister of the country.

The first session of the Constituent Assembly, the panel set up to draft the Constitution of India, held in Constitution Hall, now Central Hall of the Parliament on December 9, 1946 was attended by 207 members, including nine women.

Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, was elected as the President of the Assembly. The panel met for two years, 11 months and 18 days to draft the Constitution.

It can be seen that the Constituent Assembly took almost three years to draft the Constitution for Independent India. During this period, it held eleven sessions covering a total of 165 days, according to the Lok Sabha website. Of these, 114 days were spent on the consideration of the contest of the Draft Constitution.

Initially, the Assembly had 389 members, but after partition, a separate Constituent Assembly was set up for Pakistan and the membership was reduced to 299.

The "Objectives Resolution" passed by Jawaharlal Nehru four days later on December 13 was unanimously adopted as Preamble on January 22, 1947. On the evening of August 14, 1947, the Assembly met in the Constitution Hall again and took over as the Legislative Assembly of an Independent India.

On August 29, 1947, the Constituent Assembly set up a Drafting Committee, one of its 17 committees, under the chairmanship of BR Ambedkar to prepare a Draft Constitution for India. Of the 7,635 amendments tabled, the committee approved disposed at least 2,473 amendments.

The Constitution of India was adopted on November 26, 1949, the last day of the Assembly's last session. It came to effect next year on January, 24 1950 after all 283 members signed it. On that day, the Constituent Assembly ceased to exist, transforming into the Provisional Parliament of India until a new Parliament was constituted in 1952.