UCC Row: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Uttarakhand government is all set to implement the contentious Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state as a committee of experts will submit its report in the coming days. The discussion on UCC implementation triggered a political battle between the Congress and the BJP in Uttarakhand. The BJP accused the grand old party of opposing the UCC to appease minority voters.
Uttarakhand BJP chief Mahendra Bhatt on Wednesday alleged that the Congress was raising concerns about the UCC to further its policy of “appeasement politics”. Bhatt asked the grand old party to refrain from “creating misconceptions” about the proposed law.
A committee of experts constituted by the state government has announced that the draft of the proposed UCC for Uttarakhand is ready and will be submitted to the state government soon.
What is UCC?
UCC refers to a general set of laws that apply to all citizens and are not based on religion in dealing with personal matters including marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption.
What did the CM of Uttarakhand say?
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had said a few days back that Uniform Civil Code would be implemented in the state soon.
Bhatt said, the concerns being raised by the Congress about what would happen to the reservation of various classes and stakeholders after the implementation of the UCC only show the frustration of the party in the face of massive public support for the code.
“The Congress can get answers to its questions about the UCC only through legislative debate. It should not try to create misunderstandings among the people already about it. The Congress will only use these concerns to further its policy of appeasement.” Doing it to move forward.” They said.
The state BJP president said, “UCC has nothing to do with reservation given to different sections. Congress is only trying to mislead people about UCC.”
Uttarakhand Congress President Karan Mehra on Tuesday expressed apprehension about the consequences of the implementation of the UCC.
He had said that the party has to see whether the UCC protects the rights and constitutional privileges of SCs and STs.
The BJP had promised to implement the UCC in its manifesto for the 2022 assembly elections in Uttarakhand.
“The expert committee has held hundreds of meetings with all stakeholders, different sections of the society and tribal communities before drafting the UCC and there is no justification for the Congress to raise concerns over it,” Bhatt said.
UCC has nothing to do with reservation. It only pertains to reconsideration of property rights, marriage and adoption laws, women’s rights and legal sanction to various religious practices, he said.
The debate on the Uniform Civil Code was revived after Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly pushed for it, asked how the country could function with dual laws governing personal matters, and used the UCC issue on the opposition. accused of “misleading and inciting”. Muslim community.
The UCC has long been one of the BJP’s three key poll planks, the others being the abrogation of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya.
(with PTI inputs)