Congress leader and Himachal Pradesh Minister Vikramaditya Singh has expressed his support for the Uniform Civil Code in a stance that is at variance with that of his party. Several Congress leaders have questioned the BJP-led government over the move with former finance minister P Chidambaram dubbing the proposal as tactics by an “agenda-driven majoritarian government.”

“We have said that whenever Uniform Civil Code comes, we will support it. Congress party has always contributed towards taking unity and integrity forward,” Vikramaditya Singh told ANI. The Himachal PWD minister is the son of Himachal Congress chief Pratibha Singh and the late six-time chief minister Virbhadra Singh.

Earlier in a tweet, Chidambaram responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent pitch for Uniform Civil Code in the country stated that while in an abstract sense the PM equating a Nation to a Family may appear true, the reality is very different

“A family is knit together by blood relationships. A nation is brought together by a Constitution which is a political-legal document Even in a family there is diversity. The Constitution of India recognised diversity and plurality among the people of India. A UCC is an aspiration. It cannot be forced on the people by an agenda-driven majoritarian government,” the former union minister said.

“…A UCC imposed on the people will only widen the divisions The Hon’ble PM’s strong pitch for the UCC is intended to divert attention from inflation, unemployment, hate crimes, discrimination and denying States’ rights. The people must be vigilant. Having failed in good governance, the BJP is deploying the UCC to polarise the electorate and attempt to win the next elections,” he added.

Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister and BJP leader Jairam Thakur welcomed Vikramaditya Singh’s remarks.

“When talks are held about UCC, the inner voices of a lot of people from different political parties and ideologies tell them that if this decision will be taken, it will be in the interest of the nation and society. We have always demanded that the law should be the same for all…If Vikramaditya Singh has said this, it means that he listened to his conscience and expressed it,” the BJP leader said.

The Law Commission had on June 14 reopened its exercise on the UCC by soliciting “views and ideas” from the public and “recognised” religious organisations within 30 days about the proposal that has been on the ruling BJP’s agenda for long.

Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh had said it was “strange” that the 22nd Law Commission was seeking a fresh reference on the UCC. The Congress leader said the move represents the ruling BJP-led coalition’s “desperation for a legitimate justification of its continuing agenda of diversion from its glaring failures”.

“The real reason is that the 21st Law Commission, after carrying out a detailed and comprehensive review of the subject, observed that it is ‘neither necessary nor desirable at this stage’ to have a UCC,” he said.

Vikramaditya Singh also slammed the BJP and said “Every time before election they bring such topics to divert from the main issues”.

He said Congress has always stated that “whenever UCC comes we will support it but we must concentrate on main issues”.

He also lashed out at the BJP over the current situation in Manipur. “Manipur has been burning for over a month and is on the verge of a civil war. But no action has been taken against the chief minister …BJP doesn’t speak of the real burning issues in the country and starts a new debate to mislead people.”

A meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Strategy Group is scheduled to be held today at former AICC chief Sonia Gandhi’s residence at 10, Janpath in Delhi.

This comes ahead of a discussion by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) on July 3, meant to discuss the stand of various stakeholders. The committee led by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Modi informed all the 31 MPs and members of the committee that their views on UCC would be sought and considered at the meeting.