The Indian National Congress on Thursday made another big Poll promise. Speaking at All India Congress Committee (AICC) Minority Department national convention in Delhi, Sushmita Dev, Congres MP from Silchar, Assam said, “Main aap logon se vaada karti hoon, ki Congress ki sarkar ayegi 2019 mein aur hum iss Triple Talaq kanoon ko khaarij karenge. Yeh aap logon se vaada hai” [I promise that the Congress party will abolish the triple talaq bill when it comes to power in Lok Sabha elections. It is my promise to you].
Sushmita Dev, Congress at at AICC minority department national convention in Delhi: Main aap logon se vaada karti hoon, ki Congress ki sarkar ayegi 2019 mein aur hum iss Triple Talaq kanoon ko khaarij karenge. Yeh aap logon se vaada hai. pic.twitter.com/jkskEGXAiD
— ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2019
Dev also met the members of the women wing of the Muslim Personal Law Board who “thanked her for being their collective voice in opposing criminalizing triple talaq.”
Congress President Rahul Gandhi was also present in the event. Gandhi launching a fresh salvo at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, ‘I challenge the BJP, let Narendra Modi ji debate with me for 10 minutes on stage. He is scared, he is a ‘darpok’ person’.
#WATCH Rahul Gandhi: I challenge the BJP, let Narendra Modi ji debate with me for 10 minutes on stage. He is scared, he is a 'darpok' person. pic.twitter.com/tjr1qkPI5l
— ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2019
Slamming the Congress for appeasement politics, Bhartiya Janta Party Spokesperson Sambit Patra said, ‘Rahul Gandhi said that it they come to power they will ban the Triple Talaq Bill, this is a height of appeasement’.
He further pointed guns at Congress President for using inappropriate words for PM Modi, Patra said, it shows the Congress president’s “mentality and nervousness”.
The Triple Talaq Bill remains stuck in the Rajya Sabha in face of a combined opposition insisting that it be scrutinized by a select committee of the House. The Triple Talaq Bill was passed by Lok Sabha in December last year amid opposition uproar. While 245 voters were in favor of the bill, 11 voted against it. It may be noted that the Congress and AIADMK walked out from the Parliament as their demands to get it referred to a select committee was rejected. BJP ally JD(U) chooses a different path for Triple Talaq Bill, set to vote against it in Rajya Sabha
Since the bill could not get the parliamentary approval, the fresh ordinance was issued on January 13. The Union Cabinet had before that approved the re-issuance of the ordinance.
The new Bill will deem the practice ‘illegal’, with the husband supposedly facing a prison sentence of three years. The BJP led government had many amendments to the original Bill after it faced a lot of criticism from opposition parties as the earlier don’t have the provision of Bail.