Union Home Minister Amit Shah's fresh push for the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) across 21 NDA-ruled states by 2029 was met with pushback on Monday, when JD(U) leader Shyam Rajak declared that it "would not be implemented" in Bihar.
The party's national general secretary also clarified that while the JD(U) had always agreed to support the UCC, it would not allow it to be implemented in Bihar.
"When the UCC was being introduced, we supported it, but our leader Nitish Kumar had made it clear that we would not implement the UCC in Bihar, and we stand by that position," he told IANS.
This comes after Amit Shah made the UCC declaration at a press conference on the 'Seva Sankalp Abhiyan' in Mumbai, which is the BJP's bid to highlight the achievements of the NDA government over the last 12 years and the saffron party's 25-year journey under PM Modi's leadership.
A UCC is a common set of personal laws on matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and adoption, irrespective of religious differences.
Notably, implementing a UCC had been one of the key points of the BJP's manifesto in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which it seeks to work on before the next edition of the polls in 2029.
As of now, the NDA is in power in 19 states and two Union Territories (UTs), including Delhi, West Bengal, Assam, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Uttarakhand was the first among the NDA-led states to implement the UCC in February 2024, followed by Gujarat and Assam in March and May this year, respectively. Madhya Pradesh is next in line, and has set up a committee to draft the UCC.
It is yet to be seen how the NDA will resolve differences over UCC implementation in Bihar, with JD(U) working president Sanjay Jha set to visit Amit Shah soon to further discuss the party's stance on it.
