UCC, Muslim outreach, Oppn unity: Combative Modi unveils the 2024 battle

Modi was addressing a meeting in Bhopal of BJP workers selected and brought to the city from various parts of the country under the party’s ‘Mera Booth Sabse Majboot’ campaign. Party leaders and workers from other places joined in virtually.

Modi accused the Opposition of “misleading” minorities regarding a UCC, and said: “Can a family function if there are two different sets of rules for people? Will that house run properly? Then how can a country run with two kinds of laws? We have to keep in mind that our Constitution too guarantees equal rights to all people.” Even the Supreme Court was in favour of a UCC, the PM said.

A UCC is the last item central to the BJP’s core ideological agenda that is yet to be tackled by the Modi government, with the Ram temple in Ayodhya on its way and Article 370 abrogated. Recently, the Law Commission invited suggestions regarding a UCC, with the Opposition reading it as a signal that the contentious issue was on the Modi government’s agenda.

A number of state BJP governments – Goa, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh – have already begun efforts to bring in a UCC in their states. BJP sources said the party is confident of numbers to pass a UCC if brought in Parliament, following a report from the Law Commission, and that the issue could come up in the Winter Session.

Some people within the BJP feel a scaled-up UCC pitch could also wedge a divide among non-BJP parties, which are trying to overcome several differences in coming together. Parties like the Aam Aadmi Party and BJD do not have an objection to a UCC while the JD(U) – the prime mover behind the Patna Opposition unity meeting — has called for a discussion on the matter.

However, the BJP is unlikely to rush headlong into a UCC, particularly due to tribal concerns. The Rashtriya Adivasi Ekta Parishad, a group that claims to represent 11 crore tribals, had moved the Supreme Court in 2016 seeking protection of their customs in the wake of a UCC. Tribals comprise formidable numbers in states such as Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan where Assembly elections are due later this year. Another poll-bound state, Mizoram, earlier this year passed a unanimous resolution opposing any move to implement a UCC.

Modi urged party workers to “explain” his government’s intentions to the people and “expose” the Opposition over its claims regarding his government’s treatment of minorities, listing the benefits of the ban on instant triple talaq and the BJP’s focus on Pasmanda Muslims who are sidelined within the community.

“If the intentions of those who claim love for Muslims are genuine, Muslims would not have been so backward. Even the Supreme Court is pushing for a common civil code. But these vote-hungry and appeasing people are misleading others,” the PM said.

The BJP believes it has carved out a constituency for itself among Muslim women and Pasmanda Muslims – including due to its welfare measures – and believes it can make gains among them in the run-up to 2024. This view has been emboldened by the party’s win in last year’s Lok Sabha bypolls in Muslim-dominated seats of Azamgarh and Rampur in Uttar Pradesh.

Scathing in his attack on the Opposition, Modi accused them of doing whatever they can to “fool people” and referred to the Patna gathering of the parties as a “phot-op”. Naming the Congress, RJD, Trinamool Congress, DMK and NCP – all of whom were present in Patna – the PM attacked them for their “disastrous appeasement policies”.

Specifically referring to “guarantees” as “a word increasingly being heard” – the Congress promised five guarantees ahead of the Karnataka elections, contributing largely to its victory – Modi said that if the parties at Patna guaranteed one thing, it was “Rs 2 trillion (20 lakh crore) scams”.

With the Congress successfully using corruption as an agenda against the BJP in Karnataka, the PM listed the scams and said: “If the Opposition can guarantee scams, Modi can guarantee that there will be a probe into every scam, action against every thief… The scamsters and those who are on bail got together… can any place be better than Patna for it?”

Underlining the BJP as a party with a difference, Modi painted the Opposition as a home of dynasties, and again listed out each by name: “If you want to help the sons and daughters of the Gandhi family, then you vote for the Congress. If you want to work for the welfare of the son of Mulayam Singh, then vote for the Samajwadi Party. If you want to help Lalu Prasad’s family, then vote for the RJD. If you want to help Sharad Pawar’s daughter, then vote for the NCP. If you want to do the Abdullah family good, then vote for the National Conference. If you want to help Karunanidhi’s family, then vote for the DMK, and if you want to vote for K Chandrashekar Rao’s daughter, then vote for the BRS. But listen to me very carefully, if you want to ensure the welfare of your son and daughter… your family, then vote for the BJP.”

Earlier too, Modi has taken on Opposition unity efforts. In 2019, he had termed an Opposition unity show in Kolkata as coming together of dynasties and corrupt people to form an alliance of corruption, scams, negativity and instability. In April this year, he alleged their efforts to be together on a platform against the BJP as “Badshah mindset”.

Reacting to Modi’s address, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who attended the programme virtually, said it “will infuse new energy among the workers as well as enrich their approach”.

The party workers who were present in Bhopal will be setting out for a 10-day intensive campaign to states that are going for Assembly elections later this year.