>Peter Ormond at 03:14, 1 July 2021

2021-07-01T03:14:43Z

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{{Infobox government cabinet
|cabinet_name = Interim Government of India
|jurisdiction = [[British Raj|British India]]
|flag = British Raj Red Ensign.svg
|flag_border = true
|date_formed = {{Start date|1946|09|02|df=y}}
|date_dissolved = {{End date|1947|08|15|df=y}}
|state_head_title = [[Emperor of India|Emperor]]
|state_head = [[George VI]]
|governor_general_title = [[Governor-General of India|Viceroy and Governor-General]]
|governor_general = {{Plainlist|
* [[Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell|The Viscount Wavell]] (1946-47)
* [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|The Viscount Mountbatten of Burma]] (1947)
}}
|government_head_title = Prime minister
|government_head = [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]
|image = Nehru with members of Interim gov't faction leaving Viceroy's home after Swearing in.jpg
|caption = Nehru with members of the Interim government faction leaving Viceroy's House after swearing in on 2 September 1946
|members_number = 15
|legislature_status = [[Coalition government|Coalition]]
|political_parties = [[Indian National Congress]] [[All-India Muslim League]]
|successor = [[First Nehru ministry]]
}}
{{Part of History of India}}
{{History of Bangladesh}}
{{History of Pakistan}}
The '''Interim Government of India''', also known as the '''Provisional Government of India''', formed on 2 September 1946<ref>http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/interim-government/1/463170.html</ref> from the newly elected [[Constituent Assembly of India]], had the task of assisting the transition of [[British Raj|British India]] to independence. It remained in place until 15 August 1947, the date of the independence (and partition) of [[Dominion of India|India]], and the creation of [[Dominion of Pakistan|Pakistan]].<ref name="A">{{cite book|title=Constitutional history of India, including the nationalist movement|pages=200–10|author=Vidya Dhar Mahajan|author-link=Vidya Dhar Mahajan|publisher=S. Chand|year=1971}}</ref><ref name="B">{{cite web|title=Office of the Historian – Countries – India|url=https://history.state.gov/countries/india|publisher=[[U.S. State Department]]|access-date=2009-08-16}}</ref><ref name="C">{{cite book|title=History of Modern India, 1707 A. D. to 2000 A. D.|author=Radhey Shyam Chaurasia|pages=300–400|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distributors|year=2002|isbn=978-81-269-0085-5}}</ref>

==Formation==
After the end of the [[World War II|Second World War]], the British authorities in India released all political prisoners who had participated in the [[Quit India movement]]. The [[Indian National Congress]], which had long fought for national independence, agreed to participate in elections for a [[constituent assembly]], as did the [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]]. The newly elected government of [[Clement Attlee]] dispatched the [[1946 Cabinet Mission to India]] to formulate proposals for the formation of a government that would lead to an independent India.<ref name="C"/>

The elections for the Constituent Assembly were not direct elections, as the members were elected from each of the provincial legislative assemblies. In the event, the Indian National Congress won a majority of the seats, some 69 per cent, including almost every seat in areas with a majority Hindu electorate. The Congress had clear majorities in eight of the eleven provinces of [[British India]].<ref>{{Harv|Judd|2004|p=172}}</ref> The Muslim League won the seats allocated to the Muslim electorate.

==Viceroy's Executive Council==
The [[Viceroy's Executive Council]] became the executive branch of the interim government. Originally headed by the Viceroy of India, it was transformed into a council of ministers, with the powers of a [[prime minister]] bestowed on the vice-president of the Council, a position held by the Congress leader [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]. After independence, all members would be Indians, apart from the Viceroy, in August to become the [[Governor-General of India|Governor-General]], [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|Lord Mountbatten]], who would hold only a ceremonial position, and the [[Commander-in-Chief, India]],<ref name="C"/> [[Claude Auchinleck|Sir Claude Auchinleck]], replaced after independence by [[Rob Lockhart|General Sir Rob Lockhart]].

The senior Congress leader [[Vallabhbhai Patel]] held the second-most powerful position in the Council, heading the [[Ministry of Home Affairs (India)|Department of Home Affairs]], [[Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India)|Department of Information and Broadcasting]].<ref name="D">{{cite book|title=The History of British India: A Chronology|author=John F. Riddick|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|pages=100–150|year=2006|isbn=978-0-313-32280-8}}</ref> The [[Sikh]] leader [[Baldev Singh]] was responsible for the [[Ministry of Defence (India)|Department of Defence]] and [[Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari]] was named to head the [[Ministry of Human Resource Development (India)|Department of Education and arts]].<ref name="D"/> [[Asaf Ali]], a Muslim Congress leader, headed the [[Ministry of Railways (India)|Department of Railways and Transport]]. [[Scheduled Caste]] leader [[Jagjivan Ram]] headed the [[Ministry of Labour and Employment (India)|Department of Labour]], while [[Rajendra Prasad]] headed the [[Ministry of Agriculture (India)|Department of Food and Agriculture]] and [[John Mathai]] headed the Department of Industries and Supplies.<ref name="D"/>

Upon the Muslim League joining the interim government, the second highest-ranking League politician, [[Liaquat Ali Khan]], became the head of the [[Ministry of Finance (India)|Department of Finance]]. [[Abdur Rab Nishtar]] headed the Departments of Posts and Air and [[Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar]] headed the [[Ministry of Commerce and Industry (India)|Department of Commerce]].<ref name="D"/> The League nominated a Scheduled Caste Hindu politician, [[Jogendra Nath Mandal]], to lead the [[Ministry of Law and Justice (India)|Department of Law]].<ref name="D"/>

==Cabinet of the Interim Government of India==
{{more citations needed|section|date=August 2018}}

===First Interim Cabinet===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Office
! colspan="2" | Name
! Party
|-
| [[Governor-General of India|Viceroy and Governor-General of India]] President of the Executive Council
|
| [[Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell|The Viscount Wavell]]
| rowspan=2|''[[British Raj|Indian Empire]]''
|-
| [[Commander-in-Chief, India|Commander-in-Chief]]
|
| [[Claude Auchinleck|Sir Claude Auchinleck]]
|-
| Vice President of the Executive Council External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations
! style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
| Home Affairs Information and Broadcasting
! style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[Vallabhbhai Patel]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
| Agriculture and Food
! style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[Rajendra Prasad]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
| Arts, Education and Health
! style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[Shafaat Ahmed Khan (politician)|Shafaat Ahmed Khan]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
| Commerce
! style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[C.H. Bhabha]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
| Defence
! style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[Baldev Singh]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
| Finance
| style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[John Matthai]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
| Industries and Supplies
! style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[C. Rajagopalachari]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
| Labour
! style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[Jagjivan Ram]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
| Law
! style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[Syed Ali Zaheer]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
| Railways and Communications Post and Air
! style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[Asaf Ali]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
| Works, Mines and Power
! style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[Sarat Bose]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
|}

===Reconstituted Cabinet===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Office
! colspan="2" | Name
! Party
|-
|rowspan=2| [[Governor-General of India|Viceroy and Governor-General of India]] President of the Executive Council
|
| [[Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell|The Viscount Wavell]] (15 October 1946 – 20 February 1947)
| rowspan=3|''[[British Raj]]''
|-
|
| [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|The Viscount Mountbatten of Burma]] (21 February 1947 -)
|-
| [[Commander-in-Chief, India|Commander-in-Chief]]
|
| [[Claude Auchinleck|Sir Claude Auchinleck]]
|-
| Vice President of the Executive Council External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations
! style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
| Home Affairs Information and Broadcasting
! style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[Vallabhbhai Patel]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]

|-
| Agriculture and Food
! style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[Rajendra Prasad]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
| Commerce
! style="background:{{All-India Muslim League/meta/color}};"|
| [[Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar]]
| [[All-India Muslim League]]
|-
| Defence
! style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[Baldev Singh]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
| Finance
! style="background:{{All-India Muslim League/meta/color}};"|
| [[Liaquat Ali Khan]]
| [[All-India Muslim League]]
|-
| Industries & Supplies
! style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[John Mathai]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
| Education
! style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[C. Rajagopalachari]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
| Health
! style="background:{{All-India Muslim League/meta/color}};"|
| [[Ghazanfar Ali Khan]]
| [[All-India Muslim League]]
|-
| Labour
! style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[Jagjivan Ram]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
| Law
! style="background:{{All-India Muslim League/meta/color}};"|
| [[Jogendra Nath Mandal]]
| [[All-India Muslim League]]
|-
| [[Minister of Railways (India)|Railways]] and Communications Post and Air
! style="background:{{All-India Muslim League/meta/color}};"|
| [[Abdur Rab Nishtar]]
| [[All-India Muslim League]]
|-
| Works, Mines and Power
! style="background:{{Indian National Congress/meta/color}};"|
| [[C.H. Bhabha]]
| [[Indian National Congress]]
|-
|colspan="4"|
The above is the reconstituted cabinet of 15 October 1946, when Muslim League called off its boycott of participation in the interim government.<ref>V. Krishna Ananth. [https://books.google.com/books?id=X62Sc3muOyQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false ''India Since Independence: Making Sense of Indian Politics'']. Pearson Education India. 2010. pp 28–30.</ref>
|}

==Activities==
Although until August 1947 British India remained under the sovereignty of the [[United Kingdom]], the interim government proceeded to establish diplomatic relations with other countries, including the [[United States]].<ref name="B"/> Meanwhile, the Constituent Assembly, from which the Interim Government was drawn, began the task of drafting a [[constitution]] for independent India.

==See also==
* [[Viceroy's Executive Council]]
* [[Council of State (India)]]
* [[Imperial Legislative Council]]
* [[Central Legislative Assembly]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==

[[Category:Government of British India]]
[[Category:History of the government of India]]
[[Category:Indian independence movement]]
[[Category:1940s in India]]
[[Category:1946 in India]]
[[Category:1947 in India]]
[[Category:Constituent Assembly of India]]
[[Category:Provisional governments]]
[[Category:1946 in British India]]
[[Category:1947 in British India]]
[[Category:Former polities of the Cold War]]

Interim Government of India - Revision history

>Peter Ormond at 03:14, 1 July 2021