Cabinet Mission Plan

The Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 was a crucial proposal by the British Government to discuss and finalise India’s constitutional future and to facilitate the transfer of power from British rule to Indian leadership. It represented one of the final and most significant attempts to maintain Indian unity while granting the country full self-government. The plan sought to reconcile the conflicting demands of the Indian National Congress, which desired a strong central government, and the Muslim League, which demanded a separate state for Muslims, ultimately leading to the formation of Pakistan.

Background and Context

By 1945–46, post-war Britain was under economic strain and facing strong Indian demands for independence. The failure of earlier initiatives such as the Cripps Mission (1942) and the Simla Conference (1945) had demonstrated the deep divisions between Congress and the Muslim League.
The Labour Government in Britain, led by Prime Minister Clement Attlee, decided to send a high-level delegation known as the Cabinet Mission to India to negotiate a constitutional framework acceptable to all major political parties.
The mission consisted of three senior British ministers:

• Lord Pethick-Lawrence, Secretary of State for India.
• Sir Stafford Cripps, President of the Board of Trade.
• A. V. Alexander, First Lord of the Admiralty.

They arrived in India in March 1946 with the dual objective of maintaining India’s unity and ensuring a smooth transfer of power.

Objectives of the Mission

The Cabinet Mission aimed to achieve the following goals:

1. To devise a constitutional framework for the transfer of power to Indian leadership.
2. To maintain the unity of India while providing adequate safeguards for minorities, particularly Muslims.
3. To establish a Constituent Assembly for drafting a new constitution.
4. To form an interim government until the constitution came into effect.
5. To find a compromise between the Congress Party’s demand for a strong central government and the Muslim League’s demand for Pakistan.

Proposals of the Cabinet Mission Plan

The plan, announced on 16 May 1946, outlined a constitutional arrangement that aimed to preserve Indian unity while recognising the country’s diversity.
The major provisions included:

1. Formation of a Constituent Assembly
   • A Constituent Assembly would be set up to frame the Constitution of India.
   • The Assembly would consist of 389 members, of whom 292 would be elected from British Indian provinces and 93 from Indian princely states.
   • Members from provinces were to be elected indirectly by the provincial legislatures through proportional representation.
2. Grouping of Provinces
   • The plan proposed the formation of three groups (sections) of provinces based on religious and geographical considerations:
     • Group A: Hindu-majority provinces – Madras, Bombay, United Provinces, Bihar, Central Provinces, and Orissa.
     • Group B: Muslim-majority provinces in the northwest – Punjab, Sind, North-West Frontier Province, and Baluchistan.
     • Group C: Muslim-majority provinces in the east – Bengal and Assam.
   • Each group would frame its own constitution for its provinces and decide on subjects of common interest.
3. Federal Union
   • India would remain a federation, with a weak central government controlling only foreign affairs, defence, and communications.
   • All other powers would rest with the provinces and groups, granting them substantial autonomy.
4. Option to Join or Secede from Groups
   • Provinces were free to join or opt out of any group after the first elections and constitutional settlements.
5. Interim Government
   • An interim government would be formed at the centre, comprising representatives from major political parties, to function until the new constitution was adopted.
6. Union and Dominion Status
   • The Union would remain part of the British Commonwealth, and provisions for Dominion status were to be included.

Response of Political Parties

1. The Indian National Congress:

• The Congress initially accepted the plan, viewing it as a step towards national unity and independence.
• However, it objected to the grouping of provinces, fearing it could lead to fragmentation and eventual partition.
• The Congress wanted provinces to have the freedom to decide their association with the groups.

2. The Muslim League:

• The League, under Muhammad Ali Jinnah, first accepted the plan since it provided for groupings that could later lead to a federation with strong Muslim-majority blocs.
• However, when the Congress rejected the compulsory grouping and insisted on provincial autonomy, Jinnah withdrew support and demanded Pakistan outright.
• The League launched “Direct Action Day” on 16 August 1946 to press for Pakistan, leading to widespread communal violence.

3. The Princely States:

• The princely states, though invited to join the Constituent Assembly, were cautious and non-committal, as they valued their autonomy and had no immediate desire to join either Congress or the League.

The Interim Government

Following the partial acceptance of the plan, an Interim Government was formed in September 1946 with Jawaharlal Nehru as Vice President of the Executive Council and Liaquat Ali Khan of the Muslim League as Finance Member. However, mutual distrust between Congress and League members rendered the government ineffective.

Failure of the Cabinet Mission Plan

Despite its balanced structure, the Cabinet Mission Plan failed to achieve its primary objective of maintaining India’s unity. The reasons for its failure included:

• Irreconcilable differences between Congress and the Muslim League over the issue of grouping and the nature of the central government.
• Distrust and communal polarisation, aggravated by the League’s Direct Action campaign and ensuing riots.
• Ambiguities in the plan, especially regarding the powers of the groups and provinces.
• Lack of enforcement mechanism by the British government, which was unwilling to impose a settlement on either party.

Ultimately, the plan’s failure led Britain to acknowledge that partition had become inevitable.

Consequences and Significance

The Cabinet Mission Plan holds immense historical importance as it represented the last major British effort to preserve Indian unity before partition. Its outcomes included:

• The formation of the Constituent Assembly, which later drafted the Constitution of independent India (excluding Pakistan).
• The collapse of negotiations between Congress and the Muslim League, accelerating the demand for partition.
• The emergence of the Interim Government, marking the final phase of British rule.
• The realisation of British withdrawal, leading to the Mountbatten Plan (1947) and the eventual partition of India and Pakistan.

Historical Evaluation

The Cabinet Mission Plan was a well-intentioned but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to reconcile the conflicting national aspirations of Hindus and Muslims within a single Indian federation. While it offered a pragmatic approach to maintaining unity, deep political mistrust and communal divisions rendered it unworkable.
Historians view it as the turning point in India’s freedom struggle, where the failure of constitutional compromise sealed the path to partition. It nevertheless laid the groundwork for India’s democratic institutions by introducing the concept of a Constituent Assembly, which became instrumental in shaping the Republic of India.