This paper unearths an alternative paradigm through which to consider the discussions and debates between members of the Indian public, government bureaucrats and Congress Party politicians about the rights and interests of Indian citizens both before and immediately after India's Independence in 1947. It argues that much of the recent historical work on citizenship during this period has been preoccupied with issues of nationality and religious community as a result of the fallout from Partition. However, the demands and deliberations over the introduction of provincial forms of affirmative action in the all-India services at this time are indicative of a different narrative. First, many provincial representations of ‘minority’ rights often took into account differences of caste and language instead. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the term minority was employed not only to describe demographic minority status, but also to define under-represented groups in the all-India services. In doing so, these different provincial policies prioritised particular local rights to representation, in which citizenship was expressed through a regional idiom.