Rajpramukh - Rajpramukhs in The Indian Republic, 1950-1956

Rajpramukhs in The Indian Republic, 1950-1956

In the intervening period the Dominion Government of India had set up a Constitution Assembly to formulate a new Constitution for India. Simultaneously each of the Independent Indian rulers and Rajpramukhs of Covenanting states had set up Constituent Assemblies for their respective states and also sent their representatives to the Constituent Assembly of India so as to make uniform laws for their respective states. The thinking among the India Leaders at that time was that each Princely state or Covenanting State would remain independent as a Federal state along the lines suggested originally by the 1935 Act. But as the drafting of the constitution progressed and the idea of forming a republic took concrete shape, it was decided that all the Princely states/Covenanting States would merge with the Indian republic, and all the Maharajas would be provided with a Privy Purse and Privileges as enjoyed by them on 15 Aug 1947 by constitutional guarantees. Hence Art. 294, Art 362, Art 366, Art 363 were incorporated. Besides it was also decided that the Maharaja of Mysore, the Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir, the Nizam of Hyderabad, and the Rajpramukhs of the Covenanting states would continue to be the constitutional Heads of their respective states. By 26 October 1949 the constituent assembly had finalized a new constitution for India and all the Acceding Indian States and the Covenanting states merged with the New Republic of India. In accordance with constitutional provisions all the Maharajas entered in to another agreement with the Governor General of India to provide for the specific privy purse amount, the right to their personal properties (as distinct from state properties), and the right to succession in accordance with the practice in their territories. These agreements were entered into before 26 January 1950 so as to bring them within the ambit of Art. 363. On 26 January 1950, India became a republic. The new constitution created four types of administrative divisions in India: nine Part A states, the former British provinces, which were ruled by an elected governor and state legislature; eight Part B states, former Princely states or groups of Covenanting states, which were governed by a Rajpramukh; ten Part C states, including both former princely states and provinces, which were governed by a chief commissioner; and a union territory ruled by a governor appointed by the Indian president.

As per Art.366 of the Indian Constitution ( as it existed in 1950):

Art 366(21): Rajpramukh means- (a) in relation to the States of Hyderabad, the person for the time being is recognised by the President as Nizam of Hyderabad.; (b) in relation to the State of Jammu and Kashmir or the State of Mysore, the person who for the time being is recognized by the President as the Maharaja of that State; and (c) in relation to any other State specified in Part B of the First Schedule, the person who for the time being is recognized by the President as the Rajpramukh of that State, and includes in relation to any of the said States any person for the time being recognized by the President as competent to exercise the powers of the Rajpramukh in relation to that State.

The eight Part B states were Hyderabad, Saurashtra, Mysore, Travancore-Cochin, Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh, Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU), and Rajasthan.