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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 11:29:11 am

Govt assures swift UCC implementation

Mumbai: Maharashtra government unequivocally declared its commitment to implementing the Uniform Civil Code across the state, assuring the legislative assembly that a comprehensive legal framework is already in the advanced stages of formulation. Minister of State for Home Yogesh Kadam categorically stated on the floor of the House on Tuesday that the ruling Mahayuti administration is entirely positive about the swift introduction of the Uniform Civil Code to standardize personal laws. To...

Govt assures swift UCC implementation

Mumbai: Maharashtra government unequivocally declared its commitment to implementing the Uniform Civil Code across the state, assuring the legislative assembly that a comprehensive legal framework is already in the advanced stages of formulation. Minister of State for Home Yogesh Kadam categorically stated on the floor of the House on Tuesday that the ruling Mahayuti administration is entirely positive about the swift introduction of the Uniform Civil Code to standardize personal laws. To facilitate this monumental legislative transition, the state government has formally sanctioned the constitution of a dedicated expert committee, which is being spearheaded by a retired High Court judge. This committee has been entrusted with the critical responsibility of meticulously preparing the draft bill for the Uniform Civil Code, which the government intends to enact immediately upon the submission of the final report. Emphasising the overarching objectives of the proposed legislation, Kadam noted that the Uniform Civil Code would universally apply to every citizen irrespective of their religious affiliations and would explicitly incorporate a stringent ban on the controversial practice of polygamy. The minister drew direct parallels with the legislative measures recently adopted by states like Uttarakhand, underscoring that the impending law in Maharashtra would similarly entail severe penal consequences, potentially including imprisonment for up to seven years for violations related to polygamy and illegal divorce practices. He firmly maintained that the government’s approach is fundamentally secular, harboring no animosity toward any specific religion, but is rather driven by the constitutional imperative to extend equal rights, legal protection, and comprehensive justice to women from all communities. This definitive policy assurance from the government was catalysed by a highly volatile calling attention motion initiated by BJP legislator Devyani Farande, which thrust the deeply sensitive issues of triple talaq and polygamy into the center of the assembly’s monsoon session. Farande brought the ongoing plight of Muslim women to the immediate attention of the House, asserting that despite the central government’s strict legislative prohibition, the illegal practice of instant divorce continues to flourish unabated.

Schisms and Appeasement in Western Vidarbha

As the Assembly polls loom, Amravati district in Western Vidarbha is turning into a microcosm for coalition schisms as well as appeasement of established players. A striking instance is the Daryapur Assembly segment where the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has announced Abhijit Adsul as the Mahayuti’s candidate. This decision has ignited tensions with incumbent MLA Ravi Rana, an independent supporting the BJP who has asserted that Adsul is unwelcome not just in Daryapur but throughout the district. The situation has posed problems for the Mahayuti in western Vidarbha besides triggering old tensions between the Ranas and the Adsul family.


Ahead of the Lok Sabha this year, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) decision to nominate independent MP Navneet Rana for the Amravati Lok Sabha seat had sparked significant dissent within the ruling Mahayuti coalition, with Abhijit’s father - former Lok Sabha MP Anandrao Adsul, a prominent figure in the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena - calling his ally, the BJP’s choice of Navneet Rana as “political suicide.” Despite indicating that Abhijit would contest against Navneet Rana as an independent in the Lok Sabha, the coalition schism was averted.


Now, with the Shiv Sena intent on placating the Adsul family comeback, the dynamics are fraught again. Ravi Rana, the MLA from Badnera, remains at daggers drawn with the Adsul clan, alleging that Adsul had engaged in a smear campaign against his wife, Navneet Rana, during the Lok Sabha election.


To make matters worse, Ravi Rana has enlisted former BJP Ramesh Bundile into his Yuva Swabhiman Party, aiming to consolidate support and mount a formidable challenge against Adsul in Daryapur.


In the 2014 assembly elections, Bundile had emerged victorious in Daryapur by a substantial margin of 19,582 votes, trouncing Abhijit Adsul, then a sitting Shiv Sena MLA.


Meanwhile, another bitter foe of the Ranas - Bacchu Kadu, leader of the Prahar Jan Shakti party, has asserted that Maharashtra favoured the ‘third front’ of the Parivartan Mahashakti, led by Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati of Maharashtra Swarajya Paksha, himself and Raju Shetti of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana.


Kadu, the incumbent MLA from Achalpur, was once a Mahayuti ally who was broken away from the ruling coalition. The BJP has fielded Pravin Tayade to supplant the formidable Kadu, a four-term consecutive legislator.


Meanwhile, the opposition Congress– the most prominent of the three Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners in this belt - is turning to its seasoned veterans in a bid to reclaim its strongholds in western Vidarbha. In Amravati, the party has nominated former women and child development minister Yashomati Thakur from Teosa, former minister Sunil Desmukh, former MLA Virendra Jagtap from Dhamangaon Railway, and Aniruddha Deshmukh, the Congress district president from Achalpur.


All four candidates are set to face their traditional opponents in the upcoming elections. Notably, aside from Thakur, the other three candidates suffered defeats in the 2019 assembly elections. Jagtap, making his seventh bid for election, is joined by Thakur in her fifth attempt and Bablu Deshmukh, who is vying for the seat for the third time. Deshmukh’s return marks his first candidacy after a 15-year hiatus; he previously ran as a BJP candidate in 2019, losing to Congress’s Sulbha Khodke, before rejoining Congress three years ago.

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