Pushing for uniform civil code, BJP's Subramanian Swamy, in the city for a book release, said it was against the natural law to have more than one wife
According to BJP’s Dr Subramanian Swamy, veteran lawyer and former law minister Ram Jethmalani is acting against the law of nature by virtue of having multiple girlfriends.u00a0
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Swamy, who himself was law minister, said while talking about the necessity of a uniform civil code, “Ram Jethmalani has two wives… He has many girlfriends.”
Asked what his remark was meant to convey, Swamy said, “I wasn’t criticising Jethmalani. He’s open about it. But I stick to the point that having more than one wife is against the natural law.”
Myth-buster
Swamy, whose Janata Party merged in August with the BJP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, was in Mumbai for a book release at Marathi Patrakar Sangh. While touching upon various issues, he broached the subject of uniform civil code. He said the belief that it is mostly Muslim men who have more than one wife was a myth.
“As per the census of 2001, only 3.5 per cent Muslims have two wives compared to 5 per cent Hindu men. Karunanidhi has three wives and Ram Jethmalani has two wives,” Swamy said, then paused, took one long look at the audience and continued, “he has many girlfriends.”
He avoided criticising Jethmalani over the recent controversy where the lawyer had said that the victim in godman Asaram’s sexual assault case was suffering from a disease.
“I haven’t met the girl so I can’t comment. But (Congress chairperson) Sonia Gandhi wants to malign the image of all saints,” he said. u00a0
‘Will rake in majority’
With reference to the impending general elections, he forecasted that his party, the BJP, would get a majority on its own, under the leadership of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, and with the support of the Shiv Sena and the Shiromani Akali Dal, they would win more than 300 seats. Swamy is aspiring for the Mumbai North-East seat from where he had earlier contested and won.
‘Won’t let Rahul become PM’
Swamy said that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi would never be allowed to be prime minister of the country because “he holds Italian citizenship”.
“When they were making Sonia the PM, within an hour of my visit, things changed. Now if they project Rahul as the PM, I will stop it as he’s an Italian citizen, and will bring it out when the time comes,” said Swamy. u00a0