Swamy hopeful of Rajya Sabha nod to triple talaq bill

Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said Thursday he was hopeful of the contentious triple talaq bill getting passed in the Rajya Sabha though the NDA government did not have a majority in the Upper House.

His comments come after the bill criminalising instant divorce by Muslim men was passed by the Lok Sabha after a heated debate on Thursday, with the government projecting it as a matter of "insaaniyat aur insaaf" for Muslim women, and rejecting the contention that it was aimed at targeting a particular community.

"We have passed the triple talaq bill today in Lok Sabha and we will get it passed in Rajya Sabha too. We will see who opposes it there. Though we do not enough number, we will do some tricks and get it passed (in Rajya Sabha)," said Swamy, a Rajya Sabha MP.

The BJP leader said after the triple talaq bill, "we will do the same for (nikah) 'halala' also as we want to abolish the injustice being meted out to women".

Under 'nikah halala', a man cannot remarry his former wife unless she marries another man, consummates the marriage, gets a divorce and observes a period of separation called 'iddat'.

The 79-year-old was delivering a keynote address at an event titled "Manthan - The Idea of New India", organised by the Hindu Nav Varsh Swagat Samiti.

He added that a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya would be built "for sure... by hook or by crook".

Dubbing former prime minister Manmohan Singh a "weak" PM, Swamy claimed, "Though he was honest, good, wise man, but he used to fear Sonia Gandhi."