Read the passage and answer the questions:
Vision of the Constitution
On 13 December 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru introduced the "Objectives Resolution" in the Constituent Assembly. It was a momentous resolution that outlined the defining ideals of the Constitution of Independent India, and provided the framework within which the work of constitution-making was to proceed. It proclaimed India to be an "Independent Sovereign Republic", guaranteed its citizens justice, equality and freedom. In the winter of 1946-47, as the Assembly deliberated, the British were still in India. An interim administration headed by Jawaharlal Nehru was in place, but it could only operate under the directions of the Viceroy and the British Government in London. Lahiri exhorted his colleagues to realise that the Constituent Assembly was British-made and was "working the British plans as the British should like it to be worked out". The Constituent Assembly was expected to express the aspirations of those who had participated in the movement for independence. On 27 August 1947, B. Pocker Bahadur from Madras made a powerful plea for continuing separate electorates. Minorities exist in all lands, argued Bahadur; they could not be wished away, they could not be "erased out of existence". Most nationalists saw separate electorates as a measure deliberately introduced by the British to divide the people. "The English played their game under the cover of safeguards," R.V. Dhulekar told Bahadur, "With the help of it they allured you (the minorities) to a long lull. Give it up now". ...The Draft Constitution provided for three lists of subjects: Union, State, and Concurrent. The subjects in the first list were to be the preserve of the Central Government, while those in the second list were vested with the states. As for the third list, here Centre and state shared responsibility. In one of the earliest sessions of the Constituent Assembly, R. V. Dhulekar, a Congressman from the United Provinces, made an aggressive plea that Hindi be used as the language of constitution-making.
Who made a powerful plea in the Constituent Assembly for continuing separate electorates for the minorities?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → B. Pocker Bahadur
On 27 August 1947, B. Pocker Bahadur from Madras made a powerful plea in the Constituent Assembly for continuing separate electorates, arguing that minorities could not be “erased out of existence”.
Note 1: This passage is taken from the NCERT chapter ‘Framing the Constitution’, almost word for word, from the sections on the Objectives Resolution, separate electorates, the three lists of subjects and the language of the nation. One passage put together from four sections of a single chapter has given five questions here; read that chapter closely and all five are yours.
Note 2: A same/similar question was asked in CUET (UG) in the papers below.
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
| – | 19-05 S1 26-05 S1* | – | 06-06 S1* 21-06 S1* | 21-08 S2* |
* A similar question.
NCERT (2026-27): “3.1 The problem with separate electorates … On 27 August 1947, B. Pocker Bahadur from Madras made a powerful plea for continuing separate electorates. Minorities exist in all lands, argued Bahadur; they could not be wished away, they could not be ‘erased out of existence’. The need was to create a political framework in which minorities could live in harmony with others, and the differences between communities could be minimised.…” |