Practicing Success

Target Exam

CUET

Subject

History

Chapter

Modern India: Framing the Constitution

Question:

Which one of the following is NOT correct about B.R. Ambedkar?

Options:

He was a lawyer.

On the advise of Gandhi, he was asked to join as a Law Minister.

After the partition violence, Ambedkar argued in support of separate electorate.

He was the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution.

Correct Answer:

After the partition violence, Ambedkar argued in support of separate electorate.

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option (3) → After the partition violence, Ambedkar argued in support of a separate electorate.

The correct statements are-

  • He was a lawyer.
  • On the advise of Gandhi, he was asked to join as a Law Minister.
  • He was the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution.

Besides the Congress trio, a very important member of the Assembly was the lawyer and economist B.R. Ambedkar. During the period of British rule, Ambedkar had been a political opponent of the Congress; but, on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi, he was asked at Independence to join the Union Cabinet as law minister. In this capacity, he served as Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution. Serving with him were two other lawyers, K.M. Munshi from Gujarat and Alladi Krishnaswamy Aiyar from Madras, both of whom gave crucial inputs in the drafting of the Constitution. These six members were given vital assistance by two civil servants. One was B. N. Rau, Constitutional Advisor to the Government of India, who prepared a series of background papers based on a close study of the political systems obtaining in other countries. The other was the Chief Draughtsman, S. N. Mukherjee, who had the ability to put complex proposals in clear legal language

Ambedkar on separate electorates:

During the national movement Ambedkar had demanded separate electorates for the Depressed Castes, and Mahatma Gandhi had opposed it, arguing that this would permanently segregate them from the rest of society. How could the Constituent Assembly resolve this opposition? What kinds of protection were the Depressed Castes to be provided? After the Partition violence, Ambedkar too no longer argued for separate electorates. The Constituent Assembly finally recommended that untouchability be abolished, Hindu temples be thrown open to all castes, and seats in legislatures and jobs in government offices be reserved for the lowest castes. Many recognised that this could not solve all problems: social discrimination could not be erased only through constitutional legislation, there had to be a change in the attitudes within society. But the measures were welcomed by the democratic public.