New Delhi: The Congress today accused the Centre of deliberately raking up the Uniform Civil Code issue in view of the 2017 Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.
Party spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that it was "cheap politics" of BJP for creating communal polarisation in the state ahead of polls.
“When election in a major state advances, divisive atmosphere is sought to be created deliberately and it is "cheap politics of BJP" aimed at polarisation. It was a "fact" that whenever elections approach, issues like Uniform Civil Code, Article 370 of the Constitution granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir and building of Ram temple in Ayodhya are raised to create an atmosphere of communal polarisation,” he said.
"And after gaining power, they are put on the back burner," he added.
Singhvi said the way the matter has been raised could not be seen as a "genuine" move aimed at arriving at a consensus on the issue of Uniform Civil Code by talking to all concerned.
"If it is political stuntbazi, we condemn," he said.
The BJP, on the other hand, said that uniform civil code has been opposed due to vote bank politics despite finding a mention in the Constitution.
"There should be an open debate over it. The Constitution calls for it and those who oppose it only shows their intolerance to the Constitution. We have always advocated it. There should be uniform civil code. It has been opposed due to vote bank politics," party's national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.
The Department of Legal Affairs has asked the Law Commission, a recommendatory body, to submit a report on the issue that has always been dear to BJP and the Sangh Parivar.
Law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda had earlier said "wider consultations" would be held with various personal law boards and other stakeholders to evolve a consensus and the process may take some time.
