NDA Needs To Win 400 Seats To Implement Uniform Civil Code: Himanta Sarma

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said the NDA needs to win more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha polls to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the country and to construct a grand temple at the Krishna Janmasthan in Mathura.

Addressing an election rally in favour of senior BJP leader and Union Minister Giriraj Singh in Begusarai, Sarma slammed the Congress and its allies for "raising question mark" on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

He said, "... The NDA under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to win 400 plus seats to implement the UCC in the country, for the construction a grand temple at Krishna Janmasthan in Mathura and also to ensure PoK, which is a part of India, returns to India." 

The UCC means having a common law for all citizens of the country that is not based on religion. Personal laws and laws related to inheritance, adoption and succession are likely to be covered by a common code.

Hitting out at the Congress and its allies, Sarma said, "Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD supremo, Lalu Prasad, did not attend Pran Pratishtha of the Ram Lalla at Ayodhya. Let me make it very clear that neither Rahul nor Lalu will ever be able to visit Ram temple in Ayodhya ..." The Assam CM accused the Congress of giving religion-based reservation.

"They (INDIA alliance leaders) are indulging in politics of appeasement and raise issues that support Pakistan. Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar recently said that India should not raise the PoK issue and respect Pakistan as it possesses an atom bomb. Even if Pakistan has a nuclear bomb, I am confident that it must have passed its expiry date.

"Our government at the Centre has made it clear that PoK belongs to India and no force can snatch it. We have to give a third term to Modi Ji to ensure that PoK returns to India. Since the NDA government has removed article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, it will ensure PoK returns to India in the coming days," said Sarma.

The NDA needs to win more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections to save the quota granted to the OBCs, SCs and STs, he said.

"The Congress gave reservation to Muslims by reducing the quota of OBCs/STs and SCs in Karnataka and other states and it now plans to replicate this across the country. Mamata Banerjee... Congress and RJD are the biggest enemy of OBCs... Religion-based reservation should be given to Muslims in Pakistan, not in India. The NDA will not allow this at any cost," he said.

"In Assam, I have made it very clear that Muslims will have to forsake child marriage and polygamy, and encourage women's education. Marrying two or three times is not allowed in Assam. It's very simple...they (Muslims) cannot have three wives. Action has been taken against 6,000 people, belonging to a particular community, who indulged in child marriage. We believe in Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas," he said.

Union Minister Giriraj Singh is seeking re-election from Begusarai Lok Sabha seat as the NDA nominee. Singh is pitted against Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate Awadhesh Rai, who is Mahagathbandhan's nominee..

Elections will be held in Begusarai, Darbhanga, Ujiarpur, Samastipur, Begusarai, Munger Lok Sabha seats of Bihar in the fourth phase on May 13.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)