<P> The elections for the 296 seats assigned to the British Indian provinces were completed by August 1946 . Congress won 208 seats, and the Muslim League 73 . After this election, the Muslim League refused to cooperate with the Congress, and the political situation deteriorated . Hindu - Muslim riots began, and the Muslim League demanded a separate constituent assembly for Muslims in India . On 3 June 1947 Lord Mountbatten, the last British Governor - General of India, announced his intention to scrap the Cabinet Mission Plan; this culminated in the Indian Independence Act 1947 and the separate nations of India and Pakistan . The Indian Independence Act was passed on 18 July 1947 and, although it was earlier declared that India would become independent in June 1948, this event led to independence on 15 August 1947 . The Constituent Assembly (elected for an undivided India) met for the first time on 9 December 1946, reassembling on 14 August 1947 as a sovereign body and successor to the British parliament's authority in India . As a result of the partition, under the Mountbatten plan a separate Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was established on 3 June 1947 . The representatives of the areas incorporated into Pakistan ceased to be members of the Constituent Assembly of India . New elections were held for the West Punjab and East Bengal (which became part of Pakistan, although East Bengal later seceded to become Bangladesh); the membership of the Constituent Assembly was 299 after the reorganization, and it met on 31 December 1947 . </P> <P> The Constituent Assembly, consisting of indirectly elected representatives, was established to draft a constitution for India (including the now - separate countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh). It existed for approximately three years, the first parliament of India after independence in 1947 . The Assembly was not elected on the basis of universal adult suffrage, and Muslims and Sikhs received special representation as minorities . The Muslim League boycotted the Assembly after failing to prevent its creation . Although a large part of the Constituent Assembly was drawn from the Congress Party in a one - party environment, the Congress Party included a wide diversity of opinions--from conservative industrialists to radical Marxists, to Hindu revivalists . </P> <P> The Assembly met for the first time in New Delhi on 9 December 1946, and its last session was held on 24 January 1950 . The hope of the Assembly was expressed by Jawaharlal Nehru: </P> <P> The first task of this Assembly is to free India through a new constitution, to feed the starving people, and to clothe the naked masses, and to give every Indian the fullest opportunity to develop himself according to his capacity . This is certainly a great task . Look at India today . We, are sitting here and there in despair in many places, and unrest in many cities . The atmosphere is surcharged with these quarrels and feuds which are called communal disturbances, and unfortunately we sometimes cannot avoid them . But at present the greatest and most important question in India is how to solve the problem of the poor and the starving . Wherever we turn, we are confronted with this problem . If we cannot solve this problem soon, all our paper constitutions will become useless and purposeless . Keeping this aspect in view, who could suggest to us to postpone and wait? </P>

The constituent assembly of india completed its work in