BJP will implement UCC after returning to power: Union minister Piyush Goyal

Mumbai, Apr 15 (PTI) Union minister and BJP’s candidate for Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat, Piyush Goyal, on Monday said his party will implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the country after being elected for a third term. Speaking to reporters at the Maharashtra BJP headquarters here, Goyal also dismissed criticism of the BJP’s manifesto by opposition parties, saying it reflects their defeatist mindset. The UCC means having a common law for all citizens of the country that is not based on religion. Personal laws and laws related to inheritance, adoption and succession are to be covered by the common code.

“The BJP is determined to implement the UCC in the country, and we will implement it. The Uttarakhand government has already worked on it,” Goyal said.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the BJP’s Lok Sabha poll manifesto, outlining his vision for ‘Viksit Bharat’ as he exhorted people to give another mandate to his party to shape India’s ‘destiny’ for the next 1,000 years. Describing the party’s ‘Sankalp Patra’ as a document of his guarantee, Modi highlighted the achievements of 10 years of his government at the Centre and said the BJP has delivered on every promise it made so far. On the opposition parties criticising the BJP’s manifesto, Goyal said, “It shows their defeatist mindset. It is their routine work to keep criticising everything we do.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made some “impossible things possible”, the Rajya Sabha member said.

“After a wait of 500 years, Ram Lalla has his own temple in Ayodhya. The BJP has a majority in Parliament which we used for the abrogation of Article 370 (which provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir), ban on (instant) triple talaq and not for changing the Constitution,” the Union commerce minister said.

Elections to the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra will be held in five phases from April 19 to May 20. Polling in all six parliamentary seats in Mumbai will be held in the last phase on May 20.