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Punjab CM Mann opposes UCC days after AAP extends ‘in principle support’
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday questioned the need for the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), stating that it is the agenda of the BJP which starts talking about religion whenever elections are round the corner
Chandigarh : Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday questioned the need for the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), stating that it is the agenda of the BJP which starts talking about religion whenever elections are round the corner.
Speaking to the media here, Mann said: “Our country is like a bouquet with flowers of every colour. All religions and their rituals should be respected. They need to talk to everyone to build consensus. I don’t know why they keep tinkering with such issues.”
The CM also questioned the BJP’s argument that it was “envisaged” in the Constitution. The Constitution says implementation the common set of civil laws if all citizens are socially equal, the AAP leader said on the sidelines of an official event. Mann said the AAP is a secular party and does not interfere in religion.
The CM’s comments came days after the AAP extended its “in-principle” support to the UCC. On June 28, AAP’s national general secretary Sandeep Pathak, who is also Rajya Sabha member from Punjab, said the party supported the UCC in principle, but there should be wider consultation with stakeholders, and a consensus should be built.
Punjab to move SC over RDF: CM
On the issue of withholding of the rural development fund (RDF) by the central government, the CM said his government was moving the Supreme Court. “We are approaching the court today,” he said.
Ansari’s sons allotted Wakf Board land during Capt rule, says Mann
Continuing his attack on former CM Capt Amarinder Singh and Congress leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on the controversy related to Uttar Pradesh gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s stay in a Punjab jail during the previous government, Mann said that Amarinder is repeatedly claiming he did not know Ansari, but he must ask his son Raninder Singh about it. The CM also asked Captain how Ansari’s sons Abaas and Umar managed to get prime land of Waqf Board in Ropar.
He also reiterated that the state government will recover ₹55 lakh spent on keeping Ansari in the state jail from Amarinder and Randhawa. The state government on Monday sent a show-cause notice to the two leaders asking them to explain within 15 days why the amount spent on engaging a senior advocate to oppose the transfer of Ansari from Punjab to Uttar Pradesh should not be recovered from them.
