The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)

Day after Meghwal says UCC on table, ally JDU says only through consensus

ROLLING OUT the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which was a part of the BJP’S manifesto, may not be that easy for the government given that the BJP has fallen short of the majority and its current allies have expressed reservatio­n about the proposal in the past.

Union MOS (independen­t charge) for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal had said on Tuesday that the UCC was still on the government agenda and one must “wait and watch”.

JD(U) national general secretary KC Tyagi told The Indian Express on Wednesday: “(Bihar CM) Nitish Kumar made a submission to the Law Commission in 2017 on UCC. Our stand remains the same. We are not against UCC, but we want it to come through consensus.”

The JD(U), the third biggest party in the NDA, had earlier said that “UCC must be seen as a measure of reform… not a political instrument­ality”. The TDP, which is the second biggest ally in the NDA with 16 MPS, has maintained that issues such as UCC must be discussed sitting across the table and resolved.

In his 2017 letter, Nitish had written,“whilethest­atemustend­eavour to bring in the UCC, such an effort, in order to be enduring andsustain­able,mustbebase­don a broad consensus… rather than be imposed by fiat from above.”

He also said that any attempt to impose UCC could lead to “social friction and erosion of faith in the Constituti­onal guarantee of freedom of religion”.

TDP leader Nara Lokesh, in a recent interview to The Indian Express, said, “Issues like delimitati­on, UCC etc will be discussed at length and resolved amicably. We will sit together with partners across the table and try to achieve a consensus on all these issues.”

Meanwhile, the YSRCP, which had a government in Andhra Pradesh until recently, has categorica­lly said it will not support the UCC.

“Even before the elections, our party had clarified that we will not support the UCC. We will support those matters which are in the interest of the country,” YSRCP parliament­ary party leader V Vijaysai Reddy said.

The YSRCP'S stand may put pressure on the TDP to take a more clearer stand on UCC as both parties compete for the same electoral space. On BJP’S remove-reservatio­n-for-minorities cry during the elections, the TDP has made it clear it would not do so in Andhra Pradesh.