Who among of the following were the members of the drafting committee of the Constitution? (i) N. Gopalaswami (ii) Jawaharlal Nehru (iii) Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar (iv) Sardar Patel

The correct answer is C: (i) and (iii). The Drafting Committee of the Constituent Assembly was set up on 29 August 1947 under the chairmanship of B.R. Ambedkar. Its members included N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar and Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar, along with K.M. Munshi, Syed Mohammad Saadullah, N. Madhava Rau and T.T. Krishnamachari, who replaced earlier members.

• (ii) Jawaharlal Nehru: Wrong. Nehru moved the Objectives Resolution in December 1946, but he was not on the Drafting Committee.
• (iv) Sardar Patel: Wrong. Patel chaired committees on Union Powers, Provincial Constitution and Fundamental Rights and Minorities, but not the Drafting Committee.

The core concept is the drafting process of the Constitution, which ran through several committees: the Drafting Committee put the Assembly's decisions into legal text. For Mains, it is a useful lens on how the Constitution was built through committee work and the Constituent Assembly's debates.

Trap: Aspirants pick option A or D because Nehru and Patel were the dominant figures of the Assembly. Remember that dominance in the Assembly is different from membership of a specific committee.