Ahead of the Assembly polls in Gujarat to be held by the year-end, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state on Saturday decided to set up a committee to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghvi said the state cabinet cleared a proposal to constitute the committee during its meeting held on Saturday.This is considered the last meeting of the Bhupendra Patel-led cabinet as the schedule for the state elections is expected to be announced next week."The committee will be headed by a retired high court judge and will have three to four members," Union minister Parshottam Rupala said.
Earlier, the BJP governments in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh had announced implementation of the UCC in their states.
The move also follows Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal stating that his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) would announce on November 4 the name of its chief ministerial face for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections on the basis of opinion given by the people of the state.
Addressing a press conference, the AAP's national convener urged people to contact the party through SMS, WhatsApp, voice mail and e-mail to give their views about who should be the CM candidate from the party.
He said there is an atmosphere of change in Gujarat and people believe that AAP is going to form a government in the state.
"Today, I would like to ask the people of Gujarat as to who they want to see as the next CM of Gujarat. To know the opinion of the public, we are releasing a number - 6357000 360. You can send SMS, WhatsApp messages, and leave voice messages. We are also releasing e-mail - aapnocm@gmail.com," Kejriwal said.
He said, while announcing the 'Choose your Chief Minister' campaign, people can give their choice in four ways - SMS, WhatsApp, voice mail or e-mail till 5 pm on November 3.
"We will announce the result on November 4," he said.