While India its Independence Day on August 15 when it earned freedom from British Rule, Republic Day commemorates the constitution coming into force. January 26 was the chosen date since it was on this day in 1929 that the Indian National Congress issued the Declaration of Indian Independence (Purna Swaraj), opposing the British Regime's Dominion status.
After gaining independence in 1947, Indian leaders quickly got down to the work of drafting a constitution. A committee was created on August 29 to draft a permanent constitution for independent India with Dr BR Ambedkar as its chairman. On November 4, 1947, the committee drafted the constitution and submitted it to the Constituent Assembly. The Assembly met in numerous sessions for nearly two years before finally adopting the Constitution. On January 24, 1950, the 308 members of the Assembly signed two handwritten versions of the agreement - one in Hindi and one in English - after much deliberation and a few changes.
The constitution came into effect two days later, on January 26, 1950, which completed India's transition to a sovereign republic.
The constitution replaced the British colonial Government of India Act (1935) as the country's governing text.
