BJP was in hurry to pass Triple Talaq Bill: Kharge

The Congress on Thursday said that they wanted certain amendments but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was "in a hurry to pass" the Triple Talaq Bill.

"It is a progressive bill, all parties supported it. But there were certain reservations, wanted certain amendments, that is why we insisted it should be referred to the Standing Committee but they were in a hurry to pass the bill," Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge told ANI.

The Triple Talaq Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday after a day long debate between the BJP and the Opposition.

The Congress said the party will take further steps in the Rajya Sabha to reduce the suspicion created by the Central government in the bill.

"Our party will take further steps in the Rajya Sabha. We will discuss with Rajya Sabha members and find out a way to reduce the suspicion created by the government," said Kharge.

Earlier in the day, the Congress party extended its support for the Triple Talaq Bill that was tabled by the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the Lok Sabha, adding that there "are certain lacunae in it that need to be rectified before bringing it into force".

All the amendments moved by Asaduddin Owaisi, Biju Janata Dal's (BJD) Bhartruhari Mahtab, the Congress party's Sushmita Dev and the Communist Party of India's (Marxist) A Sampath were negated in the Lower House of the Parliament.

The bill will now be introduced in the Rajya Sabha for passage before it is forwarded to the President for signing it into a law.

The bill, if made into a law, will make Triple Talaq a criminal offence. It proposes a three-year jail term for a Muslim man who divorces his wife in any form of spoken, written or by electronic means such as email, SMS, and WhatsApp.