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Event
Information:
The
Republic Day of India commemorates
the date on which the Constitution
of India came into force replacing
the Government of India Act 1935 as
the governing document of India on
26 January 1950. The date 26 January
was chosen to honour the memory of
the declaration of independence of
1930. It is one of the three
national holidays in India, and
while the main parade, Republic Day
Parade takes place at the Rajpath,
in the national capital New Delhi,
where the president views the
parade, state capitals also have
their state celebrations.
Although India obtained its
independence on 15 August 1947, it
did not yet have a permanent
constitution; instead, its laws were
based on the modified colonial
Government of India Act 1935, and
the country was a Dominion, with
George VI as head of state and Earl
Mountbatten as Governor General. On
28 August 1947, the Drafting
Committee was appointed to draft a
permanent constitution, with Bhimrao
Ramji Ambedkar as chairman. While
India's Independence Day celebrates
its freedom from British Rule, the
Republic Day celebrates the coming
into force of its constitution.
A
draft constitution was prepared by
the committee and submitted to the
Assembly on 4 November 1947. The
Assembly met, in sessions open to
public, for 166 days, spread over a
period of 2 years, 11 months and 18
days before adopting the
Constitution. After many
deliberations and some
modifications, the 308 members of
the Assembly signed two hand-written
copies of the document (one each in
Hindi and English) on 24 January
1950. Two days later, the
Constitution of India became the law
of all the Indian lands. The
Constitution of India came into
effect only on 26 January 1950,
10.18 AM IST. Following elections on
21 January 1950, Rajendra Prasad was
elected as the president of India.
The Indian National Congress and
other parties had been celebrating
26 January as a symbol of
Independence, even before India
actually became independent. Thus,
signing the constitution on 26
January, to mark and respect 26
January and the freedom struggle and
the freedom fighters.
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