Lucknow, Oct. 31 -- Union home minister Amit Shah's categorical promise to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Uttar Pradesh on the BJP's return to power in the state, coupled with his pointed reference to the 1990 firing on Ram devotees in Ayodhya, has brought the party's traditional Hindutva agenda on the front burner ahead of the assembly elections.

The two references-one a fresh political commitment and the other a reminder of its historical confrontation with the Samajwadi Party (SP) over the Ram temple movement-underline the ideological thrust of Shah's address to the BJP's state working committee meeting in Lucknow on Friday.

It is believed that the renewed emphasis on a divisive issue in a state with a substantial Muslim p...