BJP strategy: show Cong is against Muslim women

The  Centre and the BJP  have been opposing the Opposition's demand for sending the Triple Talaq Bill to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha, even as their numbers in the  House are low.

But they would not  hesitate  to let the House defeat the legislation, so that they can get the opportunity to show that the Congress, which projects itself as the custodian of minority welfare, is actually working against the interests of Muslim women, say BJP's floor managers.

Knowing that the numbers favour the Opposition in the Upper House, the strategy of the government and the BJP is to show that the Congress is shifting its stand on the Triple Talaq Bill.

The bone of contention between the BJP and  Congress is the three-year jail term clause for the erring husband.

The Opposition has said the clause can be misused by women to harass their husbands as pronouncing  instantaneous divorce will be a criminal act under the new law.

Several Union ministers, including Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad, accused the Congress of "double standards" in its stand on the Triple Talaq Bill, saying it was trying to stall the bill in the Rajya Sabha after supporting it in the Lok Sabha.

Both Jaitley and Prasad repeatedly emphasised that, despite the Supreme Court's verdict against the practice of  instantaneous  divorce, a number of such cases continue to be reported by Muslim women in different areas.

When Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad insisted on a vote on sending the bill to a select panel, Jaitley said the government could not afford a further dealy since two judges of the Supreme Court had said the practice of instant triple talaq was unfair, and suspended it for six months  - a period which ends on February 22.

The finance minister said the judges had asked parties to come up with appropriate legislation and that the country expected "urgency" from Parliament.

The Congress rejected Jaitley's contention, saying this was the view of the SC judges who gave the minority judgement.

The BJP believes that highlighting the role of the Congress in preventing the enactment of the law to abolish triple talaq and criminalise it would lower the latter's support among Muslim women who want the government to act tough on the practice.