ABSTRACT
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was made chairman of the Drafting Committee on the advice of Gandhi in opposition to Jawaharlal Nehru's insistence on getting the renowned British expert of jurisprudence, Ivor Jennings for the task. The Constitution had its ideological roots in constitutional liberalism which Ambedkar held so dear throughout his political career. Being heavily influenced by the Westminster model and also the US model of constitutional supremacy, he favoured a structure of democratic governance that flourished in a liberal political set-up. This chapter aims to grasp Ambedkar's role in the making of the 1950 Constitution of India. Being the chairman of the Drafting Committee, he prepared a blueprint for the members of the Constituent Assembly to ponder. A new era of constitutional democracy thus began unfolding with the inauguration of the 1950 Constitution of India. While placing the draft constitution for deliberations in the Assembly, Ambedkar referred to fundamental characteristics which, he felt, upheld the core values of liberal constitutionalism.
