THE MAKING OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION   However, August 15 was not the first choice to mark India's  independence. The story behind the date is interesting in many fields.  On 29.12.1929, Jawaharlal Nehru called for a meeting of the INC in  Lahore, where the National flag was unfurled, and a call for Purna  Swaraj was made (complete self-rule). On that day the Congress set  January 26, 1930 as the day of Indian Independence. This was  celebrated for 17years straight until the time August 15, 1947 was  declared as the day India achieved freedom from the British and  celebrated its independence. While August 15 heralded freedom from  British oppression for India, it signified something entirely different for  the British a triumph that made them a super power in the world. It was  World War l, and on August 6 and 9, 1945, American forces dropped  nuclear bombs on Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two  incidents that shook the world. The date January 26 (initially declared as  ...