Gujarat: Tribal leader resigns from AAP over party's 'in principle' support to UCC

Rajpipla: An Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader from Gujarat who fought unsuccessfully from a Scheduled Tribe reserved Assembly seat in the 2022 polls resigned from the party on Sunday opposing its "in principle" support to the Uniform Civil Code.

In his resignation letter addressed to AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Praful Vasava said the UCC was an attack on the Constitution.

Vasava, who lost from Nandod (ST) seat in Narmada district in the 2022 Assembly polls, in the letter said the AAP cannot talk about safeguarding tribal rights and at the same time express support to the UCC, which he claimed takes away special rights given to tribals.

Vasava accused the Centre over the killing of "tribals" in Manipur and urged the AAP to oppose fundamentalism and hate politics.

"UCC will threaten the constitutional rights, lifestyle and social structure of the tribals, Scheduled Caste, OBC, minorities and other communities," said Vasava in the letter in which he said he was resigning from the primary membership of AAP.

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of the need for a common civic code at a public meet recently, the AAP had extended "in principle support" to UCC, with the party's leader Sandeep Pathak saying it should be introduced through consensus.

"The AAP supports UCC in principle. Article 44 (of the Constitution) also supports it," Pathak, who is the outfit's national general secretary (organisation) had recently told PTI.

While pushing for UCC, PM Modi had asked how a nation could function with dual laws governing personal issues.