Karnataka anti-conversion bill: BJP to make repeal of law an election issue in Madhya Pradesh

BHOPAL: In a late night development, the state BJP decided that the Karnataka government repeal of anti-conversion bill will be an issue in the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh.

State BJP president VD Sharma took to twitter late on Thursday night and said, "By withdrawing the anti-conversion law in Karnataka, the Congress has shown its real thinking. I allege that Madhya Pradesh Congress and Kamal Nathalso support conversions.And if they do not, then they should oppose the decision taken by the Karnataka government."
The Karnataka cabinet headed by chief minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday decided to revoke the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill 2022 brought by the previous BJP government. The Siddaramaiah government will introduce a bill to revoke the BJP’s anti-conversion bill in the upcoming monsoon session there.
In Madhya Pradesh, assembly elections are due in November and after a high-level meeting, the state BJP has decided that repeal of anti-conversion bill in Karnataka by the Congress government will be an electoral issue in the state.
When TOI contacted the state Congress office, the party remained tight-lipped, not wanting to give a statement right away. However, highly placed sources in the state Congress said, "Madhya Pradesh already has an anti-conversion law in place since 1968. And we do not have any policy so far to change it."
The Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act 2021 prohibits conversion of a person or attempt to conversion from one religion to another by use of misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, any other fraudulent means, allurement or promising marriage. Madhya Pradesh is one of the eight states in the country that has an anti-conversion law. The other states with an anti-conversion law are Odisha, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.