Believe it or not!
August 15 was chosen as the day to liberate India from the clutches of Britishers because Lord Mountbatten considered this date as a lucky day for him.
He personally decided Aug 15 as a date to free India because he strongly believed that August 15 has been a “very lucky” day for his career.
The British officers loved the date as it was on Aug 15, 1945 (Japan timezone) during the World War II that the Japanese Army surrendered before him.
During those days, Lord Mountbatten was the commander of the allied forces).
Why Independence was announced at the stroke of midnight?
Soon after the date of independence was decided during the “June 3 plan” and was announced among public, the astrologers were annoyed all across the country as they considered 15-Aug-1947 as an “unfortunate & unholy” date going with the astrological calculations.
They did suggest the alternative dates however Lord Mountbatten was adamant on Aug 15 (for he strongly believed that day as his lucky date).
Eventually, astrologers started working on a mid-way formula and proposed the most-awaited celebration to be announced in the midnight hour between Aug 14 and 15.
The simple reason was that the new day, according to English calendar, starts at 12 AM, however, according to Hindu calendar, it starts at sunrise.
The astrologers insisted that speech of acknowledgement of transfer of power should be done within the 48 minutes window (as it was considered to be the “Abhijeet Muhurta”) which lasted 24 minutes before and after the 12:15am i.e between 11:51pm & 12:39am.
Nehru therefore had to deliver a speech only within the said timeframe. Also, an additional constraint was put mentioning that the speech had to end by 12 AM. Eventually, the holy conch (Shanka) was blown to herald the birth of a new country at the stroke of midnight hour, which added a new chapter in the history of the world.
The complete synopsis
During world War II, Lord Mountbatten was the allied commander for South East Asia.
In those times, the Japanese surrender was announced on August 15, 1945.
Since then, 15th August was considered as a special day for Lord Mountbatten due to its significance in the end of world War II.
British government passed Indian independence bill in July 1947.
Due to ongoing unrest at that time, Mountbatten decided to implement it at the earliest.
It was made to coincide with 15th August as it was special for Mountbatten due to above mentioned reason.