- Friday, February 28, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE Shiv Sena faction led by former chief minister of the western Indian state of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray has decided to back the Narendra Modi government’s push for a uniform civil code (UCC), India Today reported, citing sources on Friday (30). His Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) becomes the second party after the Aam Aadmi Party, which has backed it in principle, to support UCC.
Senior leader of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) said the party’s line of thinking has always been in favour of the UCC but added that the final call will be taken only after the draft has been prepared.
Another party leader Anand Dubey also said that it will extend support whenever the bill is tabled. Speaking to India Today, he said senior leaders of the Sena (UBT) will decide how they would navigate the waters with other opposition parties on the UCC issue.
The Thackeray-led Sena’s support for the controversial UCC came after prime minister Narendra Modi strongly batted for the same at an event featuring grassroots workers of his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Bhopal in the poll-bound central state of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday (27).
Earlier in June, Thackeray said his party supports the UCC bit cautioned that it would cause problems for the majority Hindu community as well.
“We support Uniform Civil Code, but those who are bringing it should not think that it will only cause problems for Muslims, but it will also cause problems for Hindus and many questions will arise… Ban cow slaughter from Kashmir to Kanyakumari as there is no ban on cow slaughter. Former Goa CM Manohar Parrikar himself used to say that if there is a shortage of cows in the state, we will import them”, Thackeray, whose party got split last year following a rebellion led by Eknath Shinde, the current chief minister of Maharashtra, was quoted by Asian News International as saying.
The Aam Aadmi Party has also given its “in principle” support for the UCC but added that it should be implemented with wide consultation with everyone.
The AAP’s national general secretary, Sandeep Pathak, told the Press Trust of India, “In principle, we support Uniform Civil Code (UCC) as Article 44 also says that there should be UCC in the country. However, it should be implemented after wider consultation with everyone. We feel that there should be wide consultation with all religions, political parties, and organizations and a consensus should be built.”
India Today also cited highly placed sources to report that the Modi government could table a bill on implementing the UCC in the upcoming monsoon session of the parliament. The bill might be sent to the parliamentary standing committee which will listen to views of various stakeholders on the matter, the sources added.
Modi’s strong push for the UCC seemed to have created a fresh rift in the opposition ranks, just days after 15 anti-BJP parties huddled in Patna in the eastern state of Bihar, looking for a unity ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections.
Parties such as the Indian National Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal, Trinamool Congress and others were against it. The Akali Dal and Congress also slammed the AAP, which is their opponent in the politics of the northern state of Punjab.
The Nationalist Congress Party said on Wednesday (28) that it would take a stance on the matter after consulting with various groups and studying its implications. Party president Sharad Pawar said Modi was restless with the idea of opposition unity and asked him to implement reservation for women lawmakers in the central and state legislatures.
India’s former home minister P Chidambaram slammed the Modi government over UCC saying in a series of tweets that the issue cannot be forced on people by an “agenda-driven majoritarian government” as it will create wider divisions among people.
“The Hon’ble PM is making it appear that UCC is a simple exercise. He should read the report of the last Law Commission that pointed out it was not feasible at this time The nation is divided today owing to the words and deeds of the BJP. A UCC imposed on the people will only widen the divisions,” he said.
