Muslim League (ML), which was the only other significant national party, and became a minister in the cabinet of the ML chief minister, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. Mandal was a follower of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, the father of the Indian Constitution. It was also around this time that Mandal and B. R. Ambedkar established the Bengal branch of the Scheduled Castes Federation, which itself aspired to political power. Mandal played a vital role for Ambedkar’s election to the Constituent Assembly from Bengal, when Ambedkar failed to secure a seat from Bombay in 1946. Mandal played a significant part in the framing of Constitution of India as well as Ambedkar consulted and sought his advice through letters on matters pertaining to the framing of the Constitution. While the Namasudra community was being courted by the Hindu Mahasabha, and politics in the province was dominated by the oppressed Dalit and Muslim people, Mandal saw a distinction between communal affairs and political disputes involving the INC and ML. When rioting broke out in 1946, he traveled around East Bengal to urge Dalit people not to participate in violence against Muslims, as Muslims were perceived to have been as oppressed by the upper caste Hindus as the Dalits were. He argued that the Dalits would be better off with the Muslims than with the high caste Hindus; thus, he supported ML. When the Muslim League joined the Interim Government of India in October 1946, Jinnah nominated Mandal as one of the League's five representatives. King George VI duly appointed Mandal to the body, where he took over the law portfolio. Political career in Pakistan (1947-1950) Mandal was one of the 96 founding fathers of Pakistan, as he supported the ML. At their inaugural session, days before the 15 August 1947 partition of India, they elected him their temporary chairman. When Jinnah was to be sworn in as the first Governor General of Pakistan, he is said to have asked Mandal to preside over the session. He held immense faith in Mandal for his vision and righteousness. He was appointed Pakistan's first Minister for Law and Labour. But Mandal’s status did not last long because of continuous suppression under a Muslim-majority bureaucracy. The situation further worsened after Jinnah’s death in September 1948. When Muslim rioters with the support of the police committed atrocities against his constituents, the Dalits, he protested. That caused strife between him and