Day after Meghwal says UCC still on table, ally JD(U) says only through consensus

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, “While the State must endeavour to bring in the UCC, such an effort, in order to be enduring and sustainable, must be based on a broad consensus… rather than be imposed by fiat from above.”

In the letter the Bihar CM had underlined that India was a “nation based on a delicate balance in respect of laws and governing principles for different religions and ethnic groups”. 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”.

Nitish had also raised objections to the questionnaire sent by the Law Commission, which he said was framed “to force respondents to respond in a specific manner”.

TDP leader Nara Lokesh, in a recent interview to The Indian Express, said, “Issues like delimitation, Uniform Civil Code 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.