On 2nd September 1946, the Interim Government of India was formed. This temporary government was formed from the Constituent Assembly of India (which was then newly elected) which existed till 15th August 1947, when the nations of Indian and Pakistan received Independence from colonial rule. It was the only such cabinet in India’s history in which arch-rivals Congress and the Muslim League shared power at the Centre. The interim government functioned with a great degree of autonomy, and remained in power until the end of British rule, after which it was succeeded by the Dominions of India and Pakistan.
This government was entrusted the task of helping the transition of India and Pakistan from British rule to Independence as two separate nations. The Indian National Congress, India’s largest political party and a party which had taken part in the freedom movement decided to participate in the elections for a Constituent Assembly. Even the Muslim League decided to take part.
The Constituent Assembly elections were not regarded as direct elections. The members of the Assembly were elected from each of the provincial legislative assemblies. Owing to this, the Indian National Congress won most of the seats, including seats in areas with a Hindu majority. The Muslim League on the other hand won seats in areas where there was a Muslim majority.
It was decided that after Independence, all members of this council would be Indian, except the Viceroy, would go on to become the First Governor General of India after Independence. Starting with the Cripps mission in 1942, a number of attempts were made by colonial authorities to form an interim government in India. In 1946, elections to the Constituent Assembly were held following the proposals of the British Cabinet Mission dispatched by the British Prime Minister Clement Attlee. In this election, the Congress obtained a majority in the Assembly, and the Muslim League consolidated its support among the Muslim electorate. Viceroy Wavell subsequently called upon Indian representatives to join the interim government.
A federal scheme had been visualised under the Government of India Act of 1935, but this component was never implemented due to the opposition from India’s princely states. As a result, the interim government functioned according to the older Government of India Act of 1919.
On September 2, 1946, the Congress party formed the government. On September 23, the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) ratified the Congress Working Committee’s decision.
The Muslim League initially decided to sit out of the government, and three of the five ministries reserved for Muslims were occupied by Asaf Ali, Sir Shafaat Ahmad Khan, and Syed Ali Zaheer, all non-League Muslim representatives. Two posts remained vacant.
However, after Lord Wavell agreed to allot all five reserved portfolios to the Muslim League if it agreed to cooperate, the latter finally joined. In October, the cabinet was reshuffled to accommodate the new Muslim League members, and Sarat Chandra Bose, Sir Shafaat Ahmad Khan and Syed Ali Zaheer from the earlier team were dropped. Baldev Singh, C.H. Bhabha, and John Matthai continued to represent minority communities.
On September 26, 1946, Nehru declared the government’s plan to engage in direct diplomatic relations with all countries and goodwill missions. He also expressed support for the independence of colonised nations.
In November 1946, India ratified the Convention on International Civil Aviation. In the same month, a committee was appointed to advise the government on nationalising the armed forces. In December, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was inducted into the cabinet.
The year 1947 saw the opening of diplomatic channels between India and many countries. In April 1947, the US announced the appointment of Dr. Henry F. Grady as its ambassador to India. Embassy level diplomatic relations with the USSR and the Netherlands also started in April. In May, the first Chinese ambassador Dr. Lo Chia Luen arrived, and the Belgian Consul-General in Kolkata was appointed Belgium’s ambassador to India.
On June 1, the Indian Commonwealth Relations Department and the External Affairs Department were merged to form the single Department of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations.
After Partition was announced on June 3, a dedicated cabinet sub-committee was formed to deal with the situation on June 5, and consisted of Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Liaquat Ali Khan, Abdur Rab Nishtar and Baldev Singh.
Later, on June 16, a special cabinet committee aimed at tackling the administrative consequences of Partition was created. It included the Viceroy, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, Liaquat Ali Khan, and Abdur Rab Nishtar. This committee was later replaced by a Partition Council.
Until August 15th 1947, India remained under the rule of the United Kingdom and the Interim Government set out to establish diplomatic relations with other countries, such as the United States of America. In the meanwhile, the Constituent Assembly, from which the Interim Government was created, had the challenging task of drafting the Constitution for Independent India.
India received Independence on 15th August 1947 and Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of Independent India. The Constituent Assembly completed drafting the Constitution of India on 26th November 1949 and India was declared a Republic on 26th January 1950.
