NEW DELHI: Parliament on Tuesday marked a historic moment when
Rajya Sabha
passed the much-debated and politically contentious
triple talaq bill that makes the Muslim practice of
instant divorce
punishable with the government comfortably beating off the opposition challenge by 99-84 votes.
The passage of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill will make pronouncement of instant oral talaq or
talaq-e-biddat
void and illegal and criminalise it as a cognizable offence punishable with up to three years in jail. The bill was passed in
Lok Sabha
last week.
The Modi government won the day with the help of walkouts and absence of members of non-NDA ranks during voting. While Biju Janata Dal (BJD) voted in NDA's support, there seemed to be a palpable lack of mobilisation in the opposition ranks. Coming on the heels of the amendments to the
RTI Act
, the passage of a bill that has marked the "secular" faultline in politics was much more significant as it ended two years of trenchant resistance.
When Rajya Sabha chairman
Venkaiah Naidu called for a division, AIADMK, JD(U), BSP and TRS were not present in the House. There were absentees from Congress, Samajwadi Party, TDP, YSRCP and RJD benches as well which more than made up for the fewer absentees in NDA ranks.
The House had an effective strength of 240 after Congress MP Sanjay Sinh quit on Tuesday morning, another incremental blow to the party's spirits. The votes polled added up to 183 with as many as 57 MPs not voting - a clear indicator that the opposition had failed to make it a do-or-die effort. Even in a full House, NDA is just a shade short of majority with BJD's decision to support bills tilting the scales. There were five absentees in Congress and two in the BJP ranks. NCP bigwigs Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel did not attend.
The bill's passage means the NDA has laid to rest its troubles in the Upper House.
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