Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday announced that his party – the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) – will oppose the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) if a bill is introduced in Parliament, calling it an attempt to “divide” people.
"The BJP-led NDA government is already fomenting trouble among people in different ways, ignoring the nation's development, and is again planning tricks to divide the people of the country in the name of UCC," Chandrasekhar Rao said, as quoted in an official release.
The BRS, he said, would "unambiguously oppose" the Centre's "decision to divide the people of the country which is known for its unity in diversity", and accordingly, oppose the UCC.
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KCR’s statement comes after a delegation led by All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) president Khalid Saifullah Rahmani met Rao and urged him to oppose the UCC bill for which the Centre has been aggressively pushing in its recent public gatherings. AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi was also part of the delegation.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP and RSS don’t like pluralism, which is the beauty of our nation. CM KCR has assured us that they will oppose the UCC. We will also appeal to AP CM Jagan Mohan Reddy to oppose this,” Owaisi had told reporters after the meeting.
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The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) refers to a common set of laws that is applicable to all citizens of India and is not based on religion, and deals with marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption among other matters.
It has been one of the three key poll planks of the BJP for a long time, the other two being the abrogation of Article 370 and the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Addressing a gathering of BJP workers in Bhopal last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch for a UCC, saying the Constitution calls for equal rights for all citizens.
Several political analysts and opposition leaders have, however, contended the Union government’s proposed implementation as being anti-secular.
