Political parties divided over Modi's call for UCC

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) sparked a political row and mixed responses on Wednesday with many Opposition parties remaining sceptical about the move and some other outfits backing the call for common personal laws across communities.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Janata Dal (United) opposed UCC; a number of other parties such as the Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said the UCC push was meant to distract attention from the central government's failures and fuel divisive politics.

"The honourable PM's strong pitch for UCC is: tended to divert attention from inflation, unemployment, hate crimes, discrimination and denying states' rights. The people must be vigilant," senior Congress leader P Chidambaram tweeted.

But parties such as the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) extended "in principle" backing for UCC, which is meant to replace a raft of faith-based customary laws that govern marriage, divorce, inheritance and maintenance, among other issues. "In principle we are in support of UCC... But since this issue is related to all religions and sects, we want there should be wider consultations on the issue with stakeholders from all religions, all sects and all political parties... A consensus should be built on this (UCC) through wider consultations," said AAP Rajya Sabha member and national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak.

Modi spoke to BJP booth workers at an event on Tuesday and made a strong case for UCC, a divisive issue that is part of the directive principles of state policy of the Constitution but is considered politically controversial. The PM said that political parties were taking advantage of Muslim "brothers and sisters".