Congress won't let triple talaq bill be passed in Rajya Sabha: KC Venugopal

The Congress party will not let the passage of the triple talaq bill in its present form in the Rajya Sabha, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said here Saturday.

The party would join hands with those parties with which it can ally with to defeat the bill in the present form, he told reporters here.

He said 10 opposition parties had come out openly against the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018 when it was introduced in the Lok Sabha.

Even the parties, including AIADMK which supports the government on various issues and the Trinamool Congress, have come out openly against the bill, said Venugopal who is also a Congress floor strategist.

Condemning the bill, he said stringent provisions like criminalisation of a civil wrong were there in the triple talaq bill and it was not at all acceptable for the opposition parties, including the Congress.

"...The bill will not help empower the women", Venugopal said.

The bill, passed by the Lok Sabha on Thursday, is expected to be considered by the Rajya Sabha next week.

He claimed there was no confusion in the Congress-led UPA or party-led UDF in Kerala regarding the bill.

Recalling the passage of the bill in another form in the Lok Sabha in 2017, the Alappuzha MP said the then government could not push the bill in the Upper House due to the stringent opposition from the Congress and other opposition parties.

"That is the reason why the government brought the ordinance and re-introduced the bill again in the Lok Sabha. But the Congress will oppose its passage in the present form in the Rajya Sabha," he said.

The Congress had earlier accused the NDA government of getting the triple talaq bill passed in haste in the Lok Sabha keeping in mind the 2019 general elections.

The party has said its provisions were against the Constitution as well as fundamental rights.

The Lok Sabha Thursday passed the bill criminalising the practice of instant triple talaq, with the government rejecting the contention that it was aimed at targeting a particular community.

The opposition, which had been demanding that the bill be referred to a 'joint select committee', staged a walkout when its demand was rejected by the government.

The bill was passed by the Lower House with 245 voting in favour and 11 opposing the legislation.

It would now go to the Rajya Sabha for passage and if passed would become the law.

Piloting the bill, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said there should be no politics on the bill, stressing that it was not against any particular community.

Describing the passage of the triple talaq bill as a historic step to ensure equality and dignity of Muslim women, BJP chief Amit Shah had demanded apology from the Congress for decades of injustice.