How Walkouts And Abstentions Helped The Govt Get Triple Talaq Bill Clear Rajya Sabha Test

The Bill was again passed by the Lok Sabha last week even as several several opposition parties including the Congress and the Trinamool Congress staged a walkout while naysaying it.

Muslim women visit the Parliament house to watch the current session from viewer's gallery in New Delhi on July 26, 2019. PIC/AFP.

New Delhi: Walkouts and abstentions by parties during the voting on Triple Talaq Bill helped the Centre in getting it cleared in the Rajya Sabha. The Upper House passed the bill by 99 votes in favour and 84 against it. Wit the bill getting cleared from both Houses of the Parliament, the practice of instant divorce by Muslim men will now be punishable and will attract a jail term of up to three years. Naveen Patnaik led Biju Janata Dal BJD supported the legislation while BJP ally JD-U and AIADMK walked out from the House there by reducing the majority mark that in normal scenarios stand at 121. The ruling NDA has 107 members in the 242-member Rajya Sabha. The NDA was also helped by the absence of some members of SP, NCP and BSP as well as those of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and YSR-Congress. The same strategy of giving the vote a miss had helped the government push through the contentious amendment to the Right To Information (RTI) Act last week despite not having numerical advantage in the Upper House. The Triple Talaq bill could not sail through the Rajya Sabha earlier this year despite getting the clearance in  Lok Sabha. The Bill was again passed by the Lok Sabha last week even as several several opposition parties including the Congress and the Trinamool Congress staged a walkout while naysaying it. The opposition parties are of the opinion that the proposed law in its could be misused to harass Muslims and wanted it to be sent to the Select Commission for further review.