Uniform Civil Code, Ambedkar feature in Modi's Parliament address; rakes up Emergency to slam Congress over throttling dissent

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday underscored BJP’s 'commitment' in fulfilling the idea of a uniform civil code as per the views expressed by the Constitution makers in the Constitution Assembly debates, days after the Gujarat government formed a panel to draft a roadmap for implementing the code.

“We are moving forward by respecting and taking inspiration from the makers of our Constitution. Some people must be thinking of what this UCC is. Those who will read about the Constitution debate will get to know the truth,” Modi said in the Rajya Sabha, responding to the debate on the Motion of Thanks.

“Some people may play politics, but we live by the ideas of the Constitution makers. That’s why we dare to move forward and try to fulfil (their ideas) with commitment,” the Prime Minister said.

According to historical records, several members of the Constituent Assembly argued in favour of the UCC on the ground that it would eliminate discrimination and help unify the country, but there were also others who argued against such a code noting that it would infringe on minority rights and religious freedom.

While Modi didn’t elaborate further on UCC, his comments on the saffron party’s commitments on the common code, came days after Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel announced setting up a five-member panel to “examine the need” for the UCC and make the law. The panel is to submit its report in 45 days.

Earlier this year Uttarakhand became the first state to implement the UCC, which has been one of the three key political agenda of BJP for decades. In the winter session of the Parliament, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said BJP governments would bring UCC in all states.

The Prime Minister continued his attacks on Congress, slamming the party for its 'family first' approach. “Sab ka saath, sab ka vikas (with all and development for all) is outside the thinking of the party. Such a large party now serves only one family.”

Accusing the grand old party of not respecting B R Ambedkar, he said the Congress was forced to speak out 'Jai Bhim', but they got choked while speaking so.

The Prime Minister also hit out at the Congress government economic policies of and the 'licence permit raj' that gave rise to corruption and affected the country's economic progress and growth.

Without identifying any individual, Modi said the father of a Congress MP had to wait for 15 years to buy a car as he did not get the permit. An irrigation project of Uttar Pradesh (Saryu Nahar Yojna) approved in 1972, received the funding in 2021 – five decades later, he added.

He said the entire Hindu community was blamed and its image tarnished across the world for the economic mismanagement and wrong policies of the Congress 'royal family' that led to slow growth that was coined as the 'Hindu rate of growth'.

'Shayari' takes centerstage as Modi harks back to Emergency

During his 90 minutes speech in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed the Congress party throttled the voices of prominent Bollywood personalities when they were critical of the government. Amidst the protests from Congress members, Modi cited five such cases of “curtailing the freedom of expression”:

Majrooh Sultanpuri: The lyricist was jailed for a song in support of workers in Mumbai

Balraj Sahni: Was jailed because he was in a procession protesting against the Govt

Hridaynath Mangeshkar: Removed from All India Radio when he proposed to sing a song on Veer Savarkar

Dev Anand: Govt approached him to support the Emergency. He declined and his films were banned on Doordarshan.

Kishore Kumar: Refused to sing for Congress. His songs were banned in AIR.