Minister for Public Works P.A. Mohamed Riyas said here on Saturday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had triggered the controversy on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) to reap political gains in the ensuring Lok Sabha elections and Assembly polls in various States.
The party has realised that the elections will not be a cakewalk owing to opposition from across sections. The UCC is a ploy to overcome such resistance and divide people in the name of religion, he said in his inaugural address at the State meet of the Kerala Muslim Jamaath Council at the Ernakulam Town Hall.
Mr. Riyas said the BJP-led Union government had destroyed the principles of federalism by acting against States that voiced protests against its policies. He said the divide between the rich and the poor had widened during the BJP rule. Poverty and unemployment have also gone up, he said. Hibi Eden, MP, delivered the keynote address.
