The Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government in Assam is preparing to introduce a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill in the state Assembly, a move that would make Assam the third BJP-ruled state after Uttarakhand and Gujarat to formally bring legislation aimed at standardising personal laws across communities.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that the draft Bill, already cleared by the state Cabinet, will be tabled during the ongoing special session of the Assam Legislative Assembly. According to the government, the proposed law will address issues related to marriage, divorce, inheritance, succession, live-in relationships and polygamy, while keeping tribal communities outside its ambit.
The BJP has projected the UCC as one of its major ideological commitments, alongside the abrogation of Article 370 and the Ram Temple movement. During the recent Assam Assembly elections, the party prominently campaigned on promises to implement a state-level UCC, arguing that a common civil framework would ensure gender justice and eliminate practices such as polygamy and triple talaq.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, while campaigning in Assam earlier this year, reiterated the BJP’s commitment to introducing a broader nationwide UCC and specifically assured that tribal populations would remain exempt from the legislation. He argued that the reform was necessary to ensure equality before law and to modernise personal legal systems governing marriage and inheritance.
The Assam government has similarly emphasised that the legislation will not interfere with religious customs or constitutional protections granted to tribal communities. Officials said both hill and plains tribal groups would remain outside the purview of the proposed code.
The move comes shortly after the BJP secured a sweeping third consecutive term in Assam, strengthening Sarma’s political mandate. The NDA alliance returned to power with a dominant majority in the 126-member Assembly, allowing the government to fast-track several flagship promises made during the campaign.
Government sources and party leaders have framed the UCC as part of a broader governance and legal reform agenda. Besides the UCC proposal, the Assam Cabinet has also approved new administrative reforms, including austerity measures and data governance initiatives, which the government says are intended to modernise state administration.
However, the proposed legislation has already triggered strong political opposition. Congress leaders and other opposition parties in Assam have accused the BJP of using the UCC for political polarisation ahead of future national elections. Opposition MLAs have vowed to resist the Bill inside the Assembly, arguing that such reforms require wider consultation with minority communities and civil society organisations.
Critics have also questioned the timing of the move, pointing out that the debate around the UCC remains deeply contentious across India because personal laws are historically tied to religious identity and cultural autonomy. Opposition parties argue that while reform within personal laws is necessary, a blanket uniform code risks undermining India’s plural legal traditions.
The BJP, on the other hand, has increasingly turned the UCC into a central political issue in several states. Senior party leaders have linked the legislation with women’s rights, legal equality and social reform. The issue has now become part of the BJP’s wider governance narrative across multiple election-bound states.
Assam’s proposed law is expected to become a major national political flashpoint once tabled. Legal experts say its final wording, especially regarding exemptions, inheritance rules and family law provisions, will determine how aggressively the state attempts to reshape existing personal law systems.
With Uttarakhand already passing a UCC framework and Gujarat initiating similar steps, Assam’s move signals the BJP’s growing push to establish state-level precedents for broader civil law uniformity — an issue that is likely to remain central to national political debate in the coming years.
