The BJP is finding it difficult to implement the last of its three key political agendas—the Uniform Civil Code (UCC)—having successfully accomplished the other two, the abrogation of Article 370 and the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Recent moves for a state-by-state push for a common civil-law framework, overriding existing personal laws, appear to have been stalled by the diverse religious and social customs prevalent across the country as well as the legal intricacies imposed by the Indian Constitution. To compound problems facing the Modi government-sponsored UCC, this is being strongly resisted by tribal communities fearing it would interfere with their ancestral practices, and also some allies of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) who are not fully on board with the intended law.

Constitutional And Legal Hurdles

Although the Constitution does advise a common civil code, bringing together various personal laws under a single law, it is not strictly enforceable but just a proposal contained in the Directive Principles. However, another crucial constitutional provision allows state-led passage of the UCC by individual legislative assemblies, and it is this path that the government has chosen to implement the law bitterly opposed by the entire Opposition. The BJP’s enthusiasm for the UCC is primarily directed against the Muslim minority and has been a key demand of the Sangh Parivar ever since the controversial Shah Bano judgement more than four decades ago when a Muslim woman was denied personal maintenance on the basis of Sharia laws, with the judge regretting........

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