BJP banks on triple talaq Bill for 2019

The BJP could gain a foothold among young Muslim women in the coming years, if not soon, to build on a new constituency to change the electoral narrative of the country.
BJP banks on triple talaq Bill for 2019

NEW DELHI: Seemingly making up for its failure to push the Uniform Civil Code agenda, the BJP is going whole hog to push the triple talaq Bill in Parliament in a bid to revive the Shah Bano moment in national politics. 

Having realised that the minority vote base would remain anti-BJP in the 2019 polls, the saffron outfit appears keen to hand over a handle to Muslim women to bolt the ‘electoral herd mindset’ and become agents of change within the community.

The BJP’s floor managers in Parliament are learnt to have gone on an overdrive to persuade non-Congress Opposition parties to stage walkouts in the Rajya Sabha when the contentious legislative proposal is taken up for discussions and voting on Monday.   

“The triple talaq Bill has the potential to be a bombshell in Indian politics. The Congress had electorally gained from the Shah Bano controversy. The Bill will indeed antagonise Muslim men who are bound to polarise against the BJP. This will help counter polarisation among Hindus and help the BJP go after the caste-based regional outfits in the Hindi heartland,” said a BJP leader.

Party strategists are also hopeful that the triple talaq Bill will help keep the debate around the Uniform Civil Code alive. “The NDA government took up the onus to push for legislation against the practice of triple talaq after keeping a close watch on social trends within the Muslim community, besides interactions with the victims and the intellectual class from within the community with various wings of the RSS. There were enough representations to suggest that Sunni Muslim women needed hand-holding to raise their voices against medieval practices,” added the BJP leader. 

The BJP is well-aware that eying Muslim votes would be over-ambitious. Yet, party leaders claimed, educated young Muslim women are seeking a stage to rebel against unchallenged practices, including instant divorce. 

“The BJP could gain a foothold among young Muslim women in the coming years, if not soon, to build on a new constituency to change the electoral narrative of the country. Small steps taken now could have manifold social and electoral consequences for future, and the triple talaq Bill is one such initiative,” noted a senior BJP functionary. 

Future constituency 
The BJP knows that eying Muslim votes would be over-ambitious. But leaders said the party could gain a foothold among Muslim women in future “to build on a new constituency”

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