Govt pulls out triple talaq bill, eyeing poll advantage in winter

The Government on Friday pulled out from the Rajya Sabha a Bill making triple talaq or instant divorce a criminal offence. This, a day after the Union Cabinet pushed three amendments to secure the Opposition's nod.

The Muslim Women Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha last December, but it is stuck in the Rajya Sabha because the government does not have the numbers in the House to prevent the Opposition from either defeating the Bill or effecting major amendments.

Encouraged by the victory of its sponsored candidate as the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the Cabinet on Friday quickly proposed three changes in the controversial Bill in the hope that the legislation will cruise through on the last day of the monsoon session.

However, it was not to be despite Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu speaking to the parties during a lengthy 150minute adjournment to resolve the spat. He later an- nounced in the House that the triple talaq bill will not be taken up for discussion "because no consensus could be built around it."

It means the Bill will now come only in the winter session during November-December. A senior BJP minister said passage of the Bill in the winter session will give the party a huge political advantage as it will come close to the Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP is looking at the Bill as a sort of empowerment of women to send a message to Muslim women who constitute half of the community voters.