“It made its proposals in May. It still wanted a united India. There was to be a Federal Union composed of British provinces.” The above quotation is related to

The quotation refers to the Cabinet Mission Plan of May 1946. The Mission published its proposals on 16 May 1946 and sought to preserve a united India rather than immediate partition, while proposing a federal arrangement to accommodate communal differences. The Plan envisaged a three-tier federation with a limited central government responsible only for defence, foreign affairs and communications, and provinces grouped into major regional clusters — effectively a Federal Union composed of British provinces [1]. Earlier proposals (e.g., Cripps) differed in emphasis, but the Cabinet Mission specifically combined the goal of unity with a federal structure limited to union subjects as cited above [1].

Sources

1. [1] History , class XII (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 6: Communalism in Nationalist Politics > 6.6 Direct Action Day > p. 80
2. [2] Introduction to the Constitution of India, D. D. Basu (26th ed.). > Chapter 4: OUTSTANDING FEATURES OF OUR CONSTITUTION > Incidents of Paramountey. > p. 51