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Himachal polls: Cong always ignored national interest for vote bank, says Shah
“For 70 years, our Muslim mothers and sisters demanded an end to triple talaq (Muslim divorce law) but the Congress did not do it over fears of losing the vote bank,” Union home minister Amit Shah said while addressing a rally in Jaswan-Pragpur constituency.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday slammed the Congress for “ignoring national interests” for appeasement politics as he promised the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is voted back to power in the upcoming Himachal Pradesh assembly elections.
Voting in the state is due for November 12. The results will be declared on December 8.
“The Congress always ignored national interests for vote bank politics. For 70 years, our Muslim mothers and sisters demanded an end to triple talaq (Muslim divorce law) but the Congress did not do it over fears of losing the vote bank,” Shah said while addressing a rally in Jaswan-Pragpur constituency.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after being elected for a second term in 2019, abolished the social evil,” he added.
While triple talaq was declared illegal by the Supreme Court in 2017, Parliament passed a law in 2019 to make it an offence punishable by three years of imprisonment.
Shah said it is now time to implement the UCC. “Vote for the Jai Ram Thakur-led BJP government in the state and nobody can stop us from implementing the UCC,” he said.
Implementation of UCC is among 11 commitments made by the BJP in its election manifesto released earlier in the day.
The Union minister also hit out at the principal opposition party for ignoring religious sites.
“The Congress did not build the Ram Mandir, for which lakhs of people sacrificed their lives since Babur demolished the temple. PM (Narendra) Modi ji laid its foundation stone and a magnificent Ram Mandir at Ayodhya will be ready by January 2024,” he said.
Shah also invoked the abrogation of Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and said: “Nehru committed a mistake of incorporating Article 370 in the Constitution and the Congress caressed it like a child for 70 years, alienating Jammu and Kashmir from India.”
“It was due to the Modi government, which scrapped Article 370, that Jammu and Kashmir has become a glittering head-crown of India and is progressing on the path of development,” he said.
He lauded the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying: “Under the leadership of PM Modi, India emerged as a strong nation in the world, with surgical air strikes on Pakistan.”
On BJP’s promise to implement the UCC, AICC secretary Raghubir Singh Bali said: “95% of the people in Himachal Pradesh are Hindus. The UCC will be non-relevant in our state. We are a peaceful state with secular beliefs. So, BJP’s polarisation stints won’t work in Himachal Pradesh.”
