What was the exact constitutional status of India on 26th January, 1950?

Answer: B. On 26 JANUARY 1950, India became a SOVEREIGN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC. The PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA, as ORIGINALLY ADOPTED on 26 NOVEMBER 1949 and BROUGHT INTO FORCE on 26 JANUARY 1950, declared: 'WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens: JUSTICE, social, economic and political; LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all FRATERNITY, assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity of the Nation; IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.' So on 26 January 1950 the constitutional description of India was just THREE WORDS: SOVEREIGN — DEMOCRATIC — REPUBLIC. The terms 'SOCIALIST' AND 'SECULAR' were ADDED by the 42ND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ACT 1976 (the 'Mini Constitution' amendment of the Indira Gandhi Emergency era), changing the Preamble to read 'SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC'. The 42nd Amendment also added 'and the integrity of the Nation' to the fraternity clause. So the question 'exact status on 26 January 1950' tests precise knowledge of the original Preamble vs. the post-1976 Preamble. Why other options are WRONG: (A) 'A Democratic Republic' — incomplete; misses SOVEREIGN. (C) 'A Sovereign Secular Democratic Republic' — wrong; SECULAR was added only in 1976. (D) 'A Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic' — this is the CURRENT (post-1976) description, not the 1950 status. Source: Original Preamble to the Constitution of India (1950) / 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act 1976 / NCERT Class 11 Indian Constitution at Work.