Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a campaign called "Mera Booth Sabse Majboot" (my polling booth is strongest) in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday and interacted with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers.
Modi addressed BJP booth workers nationwide via video conferencing, calling them the party's "biggest power."
He also raised the issue of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and triple talaq, an Islamic practice that allows a Muslim man to divorce his wife in minutes just by saying "talaq" (divorce) three times. India's federal government banned triple talaq in 2019.
Questioning people who believed in triple talaq, Modi asked why triple talaq isn't practiced in Muslim-majority countries like Egypt, Indonesia, Qatar, Jordan, Syria, Bangladesh, and Pakistan if it is inalienable from Islam.
"Those who advocate for triple talaq, these people hungry for a vote bank, are doing grave injustice to Muslim daughters," the Indian PM said.
Similarly, UCC means that all people, irrespective of their region or religion, will be under one set of civil laws. The UCC is mostly talked about in the context of personal laws governing marriage, divorce, and succession as different religions currently have different laws. The Supreme Court has also asked to implement UCC, he added.
UCC and triple talaq both had been parts of BJP's state and national elections manifestoes for decades.
Advocating for UCC, Modi said a country couldn't run on two laws and different sets of rules for different members.
"Indian Muslims will have to understand which political parties are provoking and destroying them for their benefit," the Indian prime minister stressed, pointing out that our Constitution also talks about equal rights for all citizens.
Modi said that Madhya Pradesh had played a "crucial role in making BJP the biggest political party in the world."
Earlier in the day, Modi flagged off five Vande Bharat trains from Madhya Pradesh capital, Bhopal.