Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], September 9 : During the monsoon session of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, the "Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Bill, 2025" was passed after a discussion in the House.
Rajasthan Minister Jogaram Patel said the anti-conversion law passed by the Assembly carries stringent provisions, including prison terms of up to life imprisonment, and was cleared despite protests by the Opposition.
Speaking to ANI, Patel said, "There were some people in the Congress legislative party who did not want a discussion to take place on this bill. Their protest was condemnable. Amid protests from the Opposition, this bill was passed."
The minister underlined that the new law provides stringent punishment for forced or fraudulent religious conversions. "There are strict provisions regarding imprisonment from 7 years to life imprisonment in this law. This law has been made after studying other such laws in the country," Patel added.
Rajasthan Minister Avinash Gehlot accused the Congress of boycotting the Assembly discussion on the anti-conversion law due to appeasement politics, after the bill was passed amid Opposition protests.
Speaking to ANI, Gehlot said, "Congress did not take part in the discussion on the bill because four of their MLAs belong to the minority community. Due to this appeasement politics, Congress is in the situation it is today."
Rajasthan Minister Jawahar Singh Bedham said the state Assembly has taken a historic step by passing a stringent law to curb incidents of forced religious conversions.
Speaking to ANI, Bedham said, "The Rajasthan Assembly today has done the work of giving a stringent law to put an end to incidents of religious conversion in the state."
Rajasthan Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully criticised the state government for passing the anti-conversion law, arguing that the legislation lacked statistical justification and was part of the BJP's political agenda.
Speaking to ANI, Jully said, "First of all, you have to present the statistics. The questions that these people have raised -- in the last five years, not a single case of bloodshed has come up. In the last five years, only 13 cases have come up. These people themselves are telling us. If there is such a large scale of religious conversion, then why have they closed their eyes?"
He demanded a proper investigation before framing such a law. "Let's do the investigation," he added.
The Congress leader also accused the BJP of pushing its political agenda by enacting similar laws across states.
"This is an agenda that they have spread. They are bringing in Haryana, they are bringing in Madhya Pradesh, they are bringing in Uttarakhand, they are bringing in Uttar Pradesh. If this is the case, then the Indian government is yours. Bring such a strong law in the entire country," Jully said.