The Chhattisgarh Assembly on Thursday passed a bill introducing stricter penalties, including life imprisonment and fines up to Rs 25 lakh, for forced and fraudulent religious conversions.

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The 2026 Freedom of Religion Bill will replace a 1968 law enacted in undivided Madhya Pradesh, from which Chhattisgarh was carved out in 2000.

The Opposition boycotted the proceedings, calling for further scrutiny of the draft legislation.

After the Assembly cleared the bill, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai told reporters that the law would stop religious conversions “carried out by taking advantage of people’s poverty, and lack of education and knowledge”, The Hindu reported.

The 1968 law had become inadequate in effectively controlling “the use of force, greed and fraudulent practices” for conversions, Deo Sai was quoted as saying.

The new law

The new legislation bars persons from converting anyone “by the use or practice of glorification, misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement”.

Under the law, a person who wants to convert will have to submit a declaration to the district magistrate or an authorised official, The Indian Express reported.

Within a week, the authorities will publish the details of the proposed conversion on a website and in the offices of the tehsildar, gram panchayat and the local police station.

The law empowers the authorities to verify the authenticity of conversions, investigate complaints and summon records. Objections against the proposed conversions can...

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Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The internal differences of the Shiv Sena (UBT) have come to the fore once again, as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (UBT faction) Zilla Parishad (ZP) member Sanjay Patil Nikam alleged that Shiv Sena (UBT) district president Ambadas Danve made a deal of ₹18 crore during the recent elections for the posts of ZP president and vice president. He made the allegations during a press conference held at Vaijapur on Thursday.

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Nikam said that Danve, in the name of a picnic, held nine Shiv Sena (UBT) ZP members hostage and made the deal. In this deal, Danve kept ₹4 crore for himself.

Several dramatic turns were witnessed during the election of the ZP president and vice president held here on Tuesday. Former Legislative Council Leader of Opposition and Shiv Sena (UBT) district president Ambadas Danve had expressed suspicion about some members of the party and had made serious allegations against them.

Now, Nikam on Thursday created a sensation by alleging a ₹18 crore deal involving Danve. Nikam said that he was away from the voting process during the election due to the directives of party chief Uddhav Thackeray. However, Danve took nine ZP members of the party to Igatpuri, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Karjat, and Goa for a picnic between March 10 and 17. Their mobile phones were taken, and they were kept under strict vigil for eight days. Security guards were deployed, and our phones were taken away, Nikam claimed.

"As we were not satisfied with Danve’s stand, initially, Lalita Sonawane and I, on the pretext of a morning walk, rescued ourselves, and later the remaining members escaped."

The ZP elections were held on February 8, and since then, he started the work of contacting the voters and working on development issues. The nine members of the party met Thackeray on February 21 and had a discussion about gaining power in the ZP. However, he said that it is important to strengthen the party presently, and it would not be appropriate to go with Shiv Sena (Shinde) or BJP for power.

However, on March 10, Danve called all the members and made a deal of ₹18 crore during the ZP president elections, and he kept ₹4 crore for himself. He would get the remaining amount after voting, and some amount was to be given to the members. When we came to know about it, we contacted senior leaders like Vinod Ghosalkar and Milind Narve and informed them about the situation. Later, we took the decision not to vote for any party, Nikam said.

Meanwhile, the allegations of a ₹18 crore deal have heated the political atmosphere in the district. Danve has, however, refuted all the allegations and said that Nikam should clarify with whom and what deal was done. The members were not held hostage, and they were travelling to various places in their own vehicles. All the allegations made are baseless, he said.

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