Maharashtra Legislative Council discusses Freedom of Religion Bill

The Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Bill 2026 was introduced in the Maharashtra Legislative Council here on Tuesday after it was passed in the Legislative Assembly at 11 pm on Monday.

Discussing the Bill in the Legislative Council on Tuesday, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena MLC Hemant Patil alleged that his friend’s daughter eloped with a boy to Kolkata. “So many children come here to study in Nanded. There, groups of Muslim boys follow 16-year-old girls. The day before yesterday, my friend’s daughter eloped with one such boy to Kolkata. This is serious. These people give birth to a large number of children, which affects voting patterns. My demand is that one person should have only one child. We should make such rules,” Patil said.

Advertisement

After this, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena MLC Anil Parab said, “I will support the Bill. However, some of its aspects need to be clarified. Is this bill modelled along the lines of changing a political party, or is it a religious conversion bill? Because all the aspects that are taken into consideration while changing political parties have been included in the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Bill. For instance, there are clauses like, not to be deceived, not to be lured, not to be misled, etc mentioned in the Bill. Information should be given about how many areas in Maharashtra, in which community and for what reason religious conversions take place. I know that religious conversions happen due to poverty. But then it is the responsibility of the government to provide all amenities to people”.

“If the government fails to provide amenities to the people, then conversions will take place. Nobody can stop it. If religious conversions have increased, has the government’s performance decreased? Why do people choose to change their religion, and what are the circumstances under which it happens? The government must share information,” Parab said.

The Bill was also discussed in the Legislative Assembly on Monday, after it was passed late at night.

During the discussion in the Legislative Assembly on Monday, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena MLA Bhaskar Jadhav said, “This Bill makes no mention of any specific religion. Various points are being raised regarding this legislation. A narrative was spread that this Bill pertains only to a specific religion. However, the Chief Minister has clarified that this is not true. We do, however, object to the specific provision requiring the accused to prove their innocence that the alleged act did not occur, because this provision is susceptible to misuse. The responsibility to prove the allegation should also be placed upon the accuser.”

The Congress, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP and the Samajwadi Party opposed the Bill. Speaking about the Bill, Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh said, “Introducing this bill amounts to interfering with the Constitution. This Bill breaches individual safety. It violates the Right to Privacy granted under Article 21 of the Constitution. Furthermore, what will happen to an individual’s safety when a mandatory notice regarding religious conversion must be submitted 60 days in advance?”

“The government has failed to mention specific cases they have encountered to warrant this legislation. What were they? While it was claimed in the Legislative Assembly that there were over 100,000 ‘Love Jihad’ cases in Maharashtra, a committee report subsequently stated that, in reality, not a single such case had been proven. Given the potential for this Bill to be misused, it should be referred to a Joint Committee so that its flaws and shortcomings can be rectified,” Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh said.

Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh opposed the Bill and stated, “The government should have presented clear statistics regarding incidents of religious conversions in the state before introducing such a stringent bill”.

Sharad Pawar-led NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad too opposed the Bill, pointing out numerous flaws in it. “We are opposed to the purpose of this bill. ⁠We are opposed to forced conversion. ⁠Bringing a bill in the name of freedom of religion means breaking the constitution. Babasaheb Ambedkar has given the right to freedom of religion in the Constitution. ⁠The conversion done by Buddha is the first conversion in this country. If this bill were implemented with retrospective effect, then Buddha, Mahavir Jain and Basaveshwara would have to go to jail.”