Anything good will come to U.P. also: Keshav Prasad Maurya amid buzz over uniform civil code, population control bill elsewhere

Amid a buzz over the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and proposed population control bill in some parts of the country, Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Sunday said: “What’s wrong with it?”

“Anything good, right and appropriate will come in Uttar Pradesh also,” he said but refused to specify any timeline or work that might be going on at the state government level on these two issues.

Keshav Prasad Maurya was speaking at “Road to 2024-In Conversation with HT” in Lucknow.

“What’s wrong with it? Who will be against population control in the country and the common civil code? Only those people who have political motives are creating panic,” he said.

“Look, how Prime Minister Modi got Muslim women free from the tyranny of triple talaq. He doesn’t take national interest and public interest decisions for vote bank politics. The BJP serves people when it gets the votes to run the government or else serves them being in opposition,” Keshav Prasad Maurya said.

Asked when Uttar Pradesh would introduce the UCC and population control bill, Maurya said: “We are not a private limited company. We can’t specify dates. Whenever they will come (UCC and population bill), we will let the people know.”

Keshav Prasad Maurya’s comments came at a time when Gujarat has become the second BJP-ruled state after Uttarakhand to constitute a panel of experts on the Uniform Civil Code and the chief ministers of BJP-ruled Himachal Pradesh and Assam, too, have backed the UCC proposal.

During Yogi Adityanath’s first term as the chief minister, the U.P. law commission had drafted a population control bill.

In the Yogi government 2.0, the U.P. minorities commission has done a survey, including in the minorities-dominated areas of the state, to feel the people’s pulse on population control.

To a question on the state government’s surveys of madrasas and Waqf properties, Keshav Prasad Maurya said: “The majority of Muslims have no problem with the surveys. They know that actions should be taken against any illegal or unauthorised institutions.”

About the theme of the discussion, the deputy chief minister said: “It is true that the road to Delhi (power at the Centre) goes through Uttar Pradesh and the roads to Lucknow come from Uttar Pradesh’s villages. Just like in 2014 and 2019, the road to 2024 will go through U.P. and the BJP will outdo itself and break the record of winning 73 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh (which achieved in 2014). The way people trust and have faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we will not be surprised if we win all 80 seats in the state.”

When asked about his comment in Saifai (late Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav’s village) amid the post-demise rituals of the SP patriarch that the BJP will win the Mainpuri seat, Maurya said: “I am not the one who would run away from journalists’ questions. The questions shouldn’t have been asked at that time, and the answer too was ill-timed. But I did not say anything wrong. The BJP will win Mainpuri, Azamgarh Lok Sabha seats, and the recently vacated Rampur (Assembly seat).”

The Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat was held by Mulayam Singh Yadav and has fallen vacant after his death.

When asked if the BJP will try to win the Mainpuri seat through Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia chief Shivpal Yadav who fell out with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav yet again after the 2022 assembly polls, Keshav Prasad Maurya said: “No point in bringing him (Shivpal) in. Shivpal Yadavji is not a party of the BJP. And anyway, the BJP is not a private limited party. The BJP says: “Ticket jisey bhi mile, kamal zaroor khiley (whosoever gets the ticket to contest, the BJP must win).”

He also took a swipe at the Congress over election of Mallikarjun Kharge, a non-Gandhi, as the party chief. Maurya said: “So you mean to say Khargeji will take decisions without the commands of Soniaji, Rahulji, and Priyankaji? It’s all paperwork in the Congress. Do you think that Khargeji will be in a position to appoint a state president of the Congress in even a single state?”

On Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra, Keshav Prasad Maurya said: “Any politician or party can take out yatras. Nothing wrong with it. But no sooner did Rahulji begin his Bharat Jodo Yatra, many senior Congress leaders began Congress chhodo abhiyaan (quit Congress campaign).”