‘Aug 15, 1947, Was A Packed Programme’: Congress MP Jairam Ramesh Gives Insights About The India’s Independence Day

India marks its 79th Independence Day today on August 15, 2025. August 15, 1947 also marked India’s freedom from over 200 years of British colonial rule. On this occasion, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh gave an insight about the events that followed India’s Independence Day. Mr Ramesh writes, “At the midnight hour of Aug 14, 1947, the Constituent Assembly met and soon thereafter Jawaharlal Nehru delivered his iconic and immortal Tryst with Destiny Speech. All newspapers on the morning of Aug 15, 1947, carried a message to the people of India as well as to overseas Indians. Later in the day, Nehru made a broadcast over All India Radio, which he began by describing himself as the Pradhan Sewak of the Indian people.”

Jairam Ramesh further writes, ‘Aug 15, 1947, was a packed programme.’ As written by Mr Ramesh, hence it was on Aug 16, 1947, that Jawaharlal Nehru actually spoke from the Red Fort for the first time – where he famously invoked not only Mahatma Gandhi but Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose as well. Jairam Ramesh concluded writing that in subsequent years, the Red Fort address to the nation by Indian PMs was to be on Aug 15.

Final blueprint for India’s Independence Day 

The Mountbatten Plan, also known as the 3 June Plan, marked the final blueprint for India’s independence from British rule. The partition of the country accompanied it into two dominions: India and Pakistan. Both Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohammed Ali Jinnah agreed to this plan after realizing the inevitability of India’s partition. 

History of the Mountbatten Plan

The then British Prime Minister Clement Atlee had entrusted the responsibility of transition of power from British rule to India to the Lord Mountbatten who had arrived in India as the final viceroy. In May 1947, Lord Mountbatten had suggested that the provinces in India should be recognized as independent successor states and also offered to participate or not in the constituent assembly. This approach was named the Dickie Bird Plan.

Also read: Partition Story – How Jawaharlal Nehru And Mohammed Ali Jinnah Agreed To Mountbatten Plan