[Answered] Critically analyze the revisionist campaign to sideline B.R. Ambedkar by elevating B.N. Rau as the Constitution’s architect. Justify Ambedkar’s central contribution.

Introduction

India’s Constitution, the world’s lengthiest democratic charter with 448 Articles and 12 Schedules, embodies social justice ideals shaped by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s visionary leadership, not mere technical expertise, as revisionist interpretations claim.

The Revisionist Narrative

1. Recent discourses attempt to reframe Sir B.N. Rau, the Constitutional Adviser (1946–47), as the “real architect” of the Indian Constitution, undermining Ambedkar’s moral, political, and representational role as the Chairperson of the Drafting Committee.
2. This revisionism is not just academic; it carries sociopolitical implications, aiming to dilute Dalit agency and Ambedkar’s transformative constitutionalism.

B.N. Rau’s Role: The Constitutional Engineer

1. Technical and Preparatory Role: Rau prepared a “rough draft” of 243 Articles and 13 Schedules based on comparative constitutional research (U.S., U.K., Canada, Ireland, Weimar Republic).
2. Absence of Political Mandate: He was not a member of the Constituent Assembly (CA); his role was advisory, not deliberative.
3. Consultative Influence: Rau’s discussions with scholars like Felix Frankfurter and Harold Laski refined structural provisions (federalism, judiciary, rights framework), but he neither debated nor defended them publicly.
4. Contribution Recognition: Ambedkar himself acknowledged Rau’s technical input in his Concluding Address (Nov 25, 1949) — describing it as foundational yet incomplete.

Ambedkar’s Leadership: The Constitution’s Moral and Political Soul

1. Democratic Legitimacy and Leadership: As Chairman of the Drafting Committee, Ambedkar transformed Rau’s draft into a living moral document, integrating the Objectives Resolution (1946) into actionable constitutional principles.
2. Navigating Crisis: Ambedkar led deliberations amid Partition violence, Gandhi’s assassination, and ideological divides — ensuring national unity through consensus building.
3. Innovative Constitutionalism: He embedded doctrines of
   1. Fundamental Rights and Social Justice (Articles 14–18)
   2. Directive Principles of State Policy (Part IV)
   3. Affirmative Action (Articles 15(4), 16(4))
   4. Constitutional Morality — later echoed by the Supreme Court (Navtej Singh Johar, 2018) as Ambedkar’s enduring legacy.
4. Transformative Vision: Through the “Trinity of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity”, Ambedkar converted India’s Constitution from a legal framework to a social revolution charter (Madhav Khosla, India’s Founding Moment, 2020).

The Politics Behind Revisionism

1. Caste and Cultural Anxiety: The attempt to elevate Rau arises from elite discomfort with a Dalit intellectual shaping modern India’s moral order.
2. Depoliticising the Founding: Reducing constitutional authorship to technical drafting erases the radical social contract embedded in Ambedkar’s vision — that political democracy is untenable without social and economic equality.
3. Selective Historicism: Primary records — Constituent Assembly Debates, speeches by Nehru, Patel, Rajendra Prasad — unanimously credit Ambedkar as the principal architect, not Rau.

Broader Implications

1. Revisionism risks hollowing the Constitution’s emancipatory ethos and eroding its inclusive foundations.
2. Recognising Ambedkar sustains constitutional morality, pluralism, and the Republic’s commitment to social justice — principles vital to India’s democratic resilience.

Conclusion

As Granville Austin observed in The Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of a Nation, Ambedkar fused law with social revolution — proving that moral imagination, not mere draftsmanship, builds enduring democracies.