BJP strategists believe that the recent Supreme Court verdict, which held instant triple talaq, or Talaq-e-biddat as unconstitutional, will give the party electoral gains in the run-up to the 2019 general elections which will be preceded by Assembly elections in 15 states.
In the aftermath of the verdict, the party has been claiming a political victory with BJP president Amit Shah stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP led NDA government at the Centre must be thanked for supporting Muslim women’s judicial struggle against the regressive law at a time when other parties were busy playing vote bank politics.
Other BJP leaders, too, feel that the party deserves due recognition for the Centre’s affidavit in the “Shayara Bano vs Union of India”, which reflected its resolve to make personal laws comply with an individual’s fundamental rights. The petitioner had challenged the constitutional validity of triple talaq.
As per the party leaders, the BJP will reap electoral benefit in 145 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats that have Muslim population in the range of 10-20%, and another 35 seats with close to 35% Muslim voters.
“We believe that we will gain the maximum from West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh. Similarly in states that will see Assembly elections before the 2019 polls, we expect that our stance in support of abolition of triple talaq will help us secure the votes of Muslim women and the liberals.
In Gujarat and Karnataka, where elections are due in the near future, there are 30+ and 40 seats, respectively, which have more than 10% Muslim voters. We are hoping that we will perform well in these seats. We have gone beyond just empty talks and actually did something for Muslim women, unlike the Congress,” a senior party leader told this reporter.
The party believes that its promise of abolishing triple talaq, which was mentioned in its 2014 manifesto, had played a key role in helping it win 95 out of around 143 seats that have more than 20% Muslim voters in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.