As the Gujarat government announced that it will form a committee for implementation of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state on Saturday, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi alleged the BJP is raising the issue of UCC to garner votes ahead of the upcoming state elections, news agency PTI reported.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president was addressing an election rally at Vadgam in Banaskantha district of Gujarat on Saturday. The state will go on polls later this year, and the Election Commission of India is likely to announce the poll dates for the state this week.

The Hyderabad MP asked if the “exclusion” of Muslims and Christians from income tax benefits for Hindu Undivided Family was not against the principle of equality.

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“Isn’t it true that Babasaheb Ambedkar said the Uniform Civil Code should be voluntary and not mandatory?…But the BJP only wants to move ahead with its Hindutva agenda and it has the habit of raising such issues before elections to get votes,” he alleged, as quoted by PTI.

“For a Muslim, marriage is a contract, for a Hindu it is living forever after, for a Christian it is ‘I do’. This is India’s pluralism which has been made possible through Articles 25, 26, 14, 19 and 20 (of the Constitution). Can anyone make a law against Article 29 (which protects the interests of minority groups) by enacting the UCC?” he asked.

“I would like to ask the prime minister why Muslims and Christians are excluded from the benefit of income tax rebate under Hindu Undivided Family? Isn’t it against the right to equality?” he asked.

The AIMIM leader also said that a law commission had in 2018 said the UCC was neither necessary nor desirable.

UCC in Gujarat

On Saturday, the Gujarat government-led by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel announced that it has decided to form a committee to implement UCC in the state, a decision for which was taken at a cabinet meeting.

Union minister Parshottam Rupala said that the committee will be headed by a retired High Court judge and will comprise of three to four members. He further said that the Cabinet has given powers to the CM to select committee members, adding that the committee for the purpose will be formed before the election model code of conduct (MCC) comes into force in the state, PTI reported.

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Rupala also said that the Hindu Marriage Act and Muslim personal laws will also be covered under the uniform civil code as these laws are not part of the Indian Consitution.

The BJP-ruled Gujarat is the latest state to announce UCC in the state, and earlier, the saffron party-ruled Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh governments announced the implementation of the UCC in their respective states.