NCP Lawmaker Raises Concerns Over UCC Panel in Maharashtra

The member of the legislative council (MLC) said he will raise the issue with the NCP leadership after talking to minority lawmakers in the party. He had also tried to raise the issue in the legislative council on Thursday.

His party Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, is an ally of the BJP at the Centre as well as in the state.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday announced the formation of a seven-member committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai to prepare a draft for the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code in the state.

The other committee members of the panel include former high court judges R C Chavan and S G Mehare, Maharashtra ex-chief secretary D K Jain, former advocate general Virendra Saraf, constitutional expert Ramesh Patange and educationist Suvarna Rawal, he told the legislative assembly.

The committee headed by Justice Desai is expected to submit its report within six months. Efforts would be made to introduce the legislation in the winter session of the state legislature in Nagpur, the CM had said on Thursday.

“The committee has no representation from the minority committee. Are there no judges from the minority community to be on the panel? Isn’t it necessary that there should be minority representation on the UCC panel?” asked Naikwadi while speaking to PTI.

Naikwadi, a minority leader from western Maharashtra, was nominated to the legislative council by the governor at a time when the NCP, which had aligned with the BJP, faced drubbing in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

“The minority lawmakers within the party will discuss this amongst ourselves and raise the issue with the leadership,” Naikwadi added.

At present, NCP has four Muslim lawmakers, including MLCs Naikwadi and Zeeshan Siddique and MLAs Sana Malik and Hasan Mushrif.