Uniform Civil Code and its impact on UP elections

How is the decision of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) to oppose the Law Commission’s questionnaire on the possibility of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) going to impact the Uttar Pradesh elections?

There is hardly any doubt that few Muslims are going to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). But the majority mood is moving slowly and imperceptibly in favour of the National Democratic Alliance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity is undimmed. 

In the circumstances, a division in the Muslim vote – or at any rate, confusion among the minorities over a perceived assault on their religious laws – will go in favour of the NDA.

A furious debate is now on about the rights of Muslims as opposed to the rights of Muslim women. Echoes of this are being heard in Christian rights groups as well.

By tossing the fire-cracker of a common civil code in the air, the government has also thrown a challenge to the Congress: it is asking whether the Congress is going to stick to its stand on the Shah Bano case (something Sonia Gandhi is on record as saying was a wrong call) or whether it is going to revise its position.

It is an interesting and complex issue. And it is likely to heat up the election atmosphere.