Before the

independence of Pakistan The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation th ...

in 1947, members of the first term of the

Constituent Assembly of Pakistan The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was the supreme federal legislature of the Dominion of Pakistan. It was established in August 1947 with the primary tasks of framing Constitution of Pakistan of 1956, a constitution; and serving as an interim ...

were selected through an

indirect election An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

held after June by the votes of the

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

n members of the provincial legislative assemblies.

Background

In 1946, after the provincial elections were held in

, the

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

sent a Cabinet Mission to the colony. The mission proposed the formation of an Indian confederacy, where autonomous states would have the authority to frame their own constitutions in unitary groups. Following the Constituent Assembly election later that year, the

Constituent Assembly of India Constituent Assembly of India was partly elected and partly nominated body to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the Provincial assemblies of British India following the Provincial Assembly elections held in 1946 and nominated ...

was formed.

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

, the largest member party, initially accepted the mission's proposal but later the party's leader

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

rejected it. As a result, the Muslim nationalist

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslims, Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim L ...

boycotted the assembly sessions, and its leader

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 187611 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pa ...

refused to participate in the assembly. On 3 June 1947, the then British prime minister

Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British statesman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. At ...

announced the plan for the transfer of power and proposed the formation of a separate Constituent Assembly for the proposed state for Indian Muslims. He also declared that members of the proposed assembly would be elected by the votes of provincial legislative assembly members.

Planning

After the vote by members of the

Bengal Legislative Assembly The Bengal Legislative Assembly () was the largest legislatures of British India, legislature in British India, serving as the lower chamber of the legislature of Bengal Presidency, Bengal (now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). It ...

on 20 June in favor of the partition of Bengal, the following day it was announced that the date for submitting nominations for the Constituent Assembly elections in the

Bengal region Bengal ( ) is a historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Bengal proper is divided between the modern- ...

would be 30 June, and the election would be held in 5 July. Meanwhile, in 23 June, after the members of

Punjab Legislative Assembly The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab (India), Punjab in India. The Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted in March 2022. At present, it consists of 117 M ...

voted in favor of the partition of Punjab, elections were announced to be held around July in the

Punjab region Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. In 22 July, it was announced that the legislative seats of

Assam Province Assam Province was a province of British India, created in 1912 by the partition of the Eastern Bengal and Assam Province. Its capital was in Shillong. The Assam territory was first separated from Bengal in 1874 as the 'North-East Frontier' ...

had been divided into Group A and Group B for the elections. From Group B's 29 seats, 3 members (including 2 Muslims) would be elected to the new Constituent Assembly by a vote among the members. In 30 July, candidates from Assam submitted their nomination papers, and it was announced that the election for the province would be held on 2 August 1947 at the legislative building in

Shillong Shillong (, ) is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India. It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in India, 330th most populous city ...

, the provincial capital.

Results

On 26 July, the names of 66 elected members from

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

, West Punjab,

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ) was a province of British India from 1901 to 1947, of the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955, and of the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 1970 to 2010. It was established on 9 November ...

, and

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

were announced. Among those elected, 48 were Muslims and 2 were Sikhs. From East Bengal, 41 members were elected; from West Punjab, 17; from Sindh, 4; from the North-West Frontier Province, 3; and from Balochistan, 1 member. Separate elections were not held for Sindh, the North-West Frontier Province, and Balochistan; instead, members elected earlier to the Indian Constituent Assembly were directly taken as representatives. Out of the total elected members, 59 belonged to the All-India Muslim League.

Aftermath

On 28 July 1947, general secretary

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan (1 October 189516 October 1951) was a Pakistani lawyer, politician and statesman who served as the first prime minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the he ...

convened a meeting of the All-India Muslim League members at the legislative building in Karachi for the Constituent Assembly. In 9 August, Kiran Shankar Roy and Bhim Sen Sachar were selected as the parliamentary leader and parliamentary deputy leader respectively of the Indian National Congress, the opposition party in the new Constituent Assembly. In 10 August, Muhammad Ali Jinnah was elected president of the Constituent Assembly. On 14 August 1947, Pakistan gained independence from

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. On the following day, under the leadership of Liaquat Ali Khan, the first federal cabinet of Pakistan was formed.

References

{{Pakistani elections 1947 elections in Asia Constituent Assembly elections in Asia Indirect elections in Pakistan Elections in British India Constituent Assembly of Pakistan History of the All-India Muslim League