Interim Government of India
| Interim Government of India | ||||||||||||
| Transition between Imperiala and Democratic structureb | ||||||||||||
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Anthem God Save the King |
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 The British Indian Empire in 1945.
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| Capital | New Delhi | |||||||||||
| Languages | ||||||||||||
| Government | Empire | |||||||||||
| Emperor | ||||||||||||
| • | 1946–1947 | George VI | ||||||||||
| Governor-Generalc | ||||||||||||
| • | 1946–1947 (first) | Lord Wavell | ||||||||||
| • | 1947 (last) | Lord Mountbatten | ||||||||||
| Secretary of State | ||||||||||||
| • | 1946–1947 (first) | Lord Pethick-Lawrence | ||||||||||
| • | 1947 (last) | Earl of Listowel | ||||||||||
| Legislature | Executive Council | |||||||||||
| Historical era | Decolonisation of Asia | |||||||||||
| • | Established | 2 September 1946 | ||||||||||
| • | Indian Independence Act | 15 August 1947 | ||||||||||
| • | Partition of India | 15 August 1947 | ||||||||||
| Area | ||||||||||||
| • | 1947 | 4,226,734 km² (1,631,951 sq mi) | ||||||||||
| Currency | British Indian rupee | |||||||||||
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| Today part of | ||||||||||||
| a. | Composed of: (i) Presidencies and provinces directly governed by the British Crown through the Governor-General of India; (ii) Princely states governed by local Indian rulers under the suzerainty of the British Crown (exercised through the Governor-General of India). |
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| b. | through Executive Council. | |||||||||||
| c. | Full title was "Viceroy and Governor-General of India". | |||||||||||
The interim government of India, formed on 2 September 1946 from the newly elected Constituent Assembly of India, had the task of assisting the transition of India and Pakistan from British rule to independence. It remained in place until 15 August 1947, the date of the independence of the two new nations of India and Pakistan.
After the end of the Second World War, the British authorities in India released all political prisoners who had participated in the Quit India movement. The Indian National Congress, the largest Indian political party, which had long fought for national independence, agreed to participate in elections for a constituent assembly, as did the Muslim League. The newly elected government of Clement Attlee dispatched the 1946 Cabinet Mission to India to formulate proposals for the formation of a government that would lead to an independent India.
The elections for the Constituent Assembly were not direct elections, as the members were elected from each of the provincial legislative assemblies. In the event, the Indian National Congress won a majority of the seats, some 69 per cent, including almost every seat in areas with a majority Hindu electorate. The Congress had clear majorities in eight of the eleven provinces of British India. The Muslim League won the seats allocated to the Muslim electorate.
The Viceroy's Executive Council became the executive branch of the interim government. Originally headed by the Viceroy of India, it was transformed into a council of ministers, with the powers of a prime minister bestowed on the vice-president of the Council, a position held by the Congress leader Jawaharlal Nehru. After independence all members would be Indians, apart from the Viceroy, in August to become the Governor-General, Lord Mountbatten, who would hold only a ceremonial position, and the Commander-in-Chief, India,Sir Claude Auchinleck, replaced after independence by General Sir Rob Lockhart.
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