Shah promises anti-conversion law if BJP wins Punjab polls

Home Minister Amit Shah said on Saturday that a law to check religious conversions will be brought in Punjab if the BJP forms the Government in the State after the 2027 Assembly polls. Addressing a “Badlav” rally at Moga in Punjab, Shah raised the issue of religious conversions in Punjab and said the entire state is afflicted with it.

“All of Punjab is facing the issue of religious conversions. I am saying this to all Hindu and Sikh brothers and sisters, you form the BJP Government once, we will bring a Bill to check religious conversions,” he said.

Earlier this month in Mumbai, the home minister had spoken about religious conversions in Punjab and appealed to the AAP Government in the State, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, to put an end to this practice driven by “greed”.

Virtually ending speculation about reviving the alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal, Shah said that the BJP will fight the 2027 elections in Punjab to form its own Government. He said the BJP, in a way, has launched its poll campaign from Moga for the assembly polls early next year. “I have come to appeal to people of Punjab to give us your blessings,” the Union Minister said, seeking support for his party.

With the BJP earlier having been part of the Government in Punjab as a junior partner to the Akalis, Shah, without naming any party, told the gathering, “Whenever we came before you, we came in the role of a younger brother. We could not have formed the Government (on our own)”.

Shah further said the ninth Sikh guru, Tegh Bahadur, had laid down his life to stop religious conversions. “From this land, I want to say this today - if Guru Tegh Bahadurji was not there, there would not be a single Hindu left in India today. It is the sacrifice of Guru Tegh Bahadur that has sustained this country. From Guru Nanak Dev to Guru Gobind Singh, I bow my head before the gurus,” Shah said.

Addressing the rally in the Killi Chahlan village, Shah said that Punjab has given many opportunities to Congress, Akalis and AAP, and should now give the BJP a chance. “We will bring change in Punjab”, he said.

Shah said that in 2024, the BJP got “19 per cent votes. And it is our track record, where the BJP gets 19 per cent of the vote, and the next Government formed there is of the BJP. And this happened in Odisha, Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Uttarakhand, and now it is the turn of Punjab”.

The Shiromani Akali Dal had snapped its 24-year-old alliance with the BJP in September 2020 over the now-scrapped three farm laws.  At present, the BJP has two MLAs in the 117-member House.

Prior to the end of their electoral alliance, both Akalis and the BJP used to fight together. Under their poll pact, the BJP used to contest 23 seats and the SAD 94 assembly seats. In parliamentary polls, the SAD used to fight for 10 seats, and the BJP would contest three. The SAD-BJP combine formed the Government in the state thrice - 1997-2002, 2007-12, and 2012-17.