Congress exposed on Karnataka anti-conversion Bill, turns out draft was made by Siddaramaiah govt

The Congress, which has been claiming that the provisions of the Bill are against the Constitution and aimed at blackmailing and harassing the minorities, was on Thursday given a reality check by assembly Speaker Vishveshwara Hegde Kageri.

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Bengaluru, First Published Dec 23, 2021, 1:25 PM IST

The Congress was left red-faced on Thursday during its uproar against the anti-conversion bill brought to the assembly by the Karnataka government. The Congress, which has been claiming that the provisions of the Bill are against the Constitution and aimed at blackmailing and harassing the minorities, was on Thursday given a reality check by assembly Speaker Vishveshwara Hegde Kageri.

Exposing the Congress within the assembly, the Speaker said that the anti-religious conversion bill was first brought by the Congress party during Siddaramaiah's tenure as Chief Minister. Kageri said that the bill has come through Law Commission and it also has the signature of the then law minister TB Jayachandra in 2016.

Siddaramaiah denied any knowledge of the previously proposed legislation had not come to his notice. He also said that such a bill never came before the cabinet. The Speaker then went through some documents that had been provided by the ruling party and read out a letter dated November 16, 2016, where Jayachandra had convened the scrutinising committee's meeting and the same was signed by the then chief minister Siddaramaiah seeking the bill to be put up before the cabinet.

Also Read: Another church vandalised in Chikkaballapur amid anti-conversion bill row

Earlier, Law Minister J Madhuswamy said that the bill is not against any religion rather it is to protect religion from illegal conversion. He also said that illegal conversion breaches peace in society. The law minister further said that the BJP government had taken forward the Karnataka Religious Freedom Bill that was drafted by the Congress government and added some more clauses to it.

Later, Siddaramaiah changed his stance to claim that just because the said Bill was initiated did not mean that his government intended to table the bill.

Also Read: Karnataka government tables anti-religious conversion bill, here are key points

Last Updated Dec 23, 2021, 1:27 PM IST