Raj Assembly passes Anti-Conversion Bill amid Oppn protests; Congress stays away from debate

The Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2025, was passed amid din on Tuesday, and the House was adjourned for the day. The issue of law and order and the delay in the Panchayati Raj elections rocked the Rajasthan Assembly, forcing Speaker Vasudev Devnani to adjourn the house multiple times.

The House was adjourned thrice in a row amid ruckus and sloganeering in the well. The contentious ‘The Forced Conversion (Prevention) Bill 2025’ was passed with a voice vote. The principal opposition, Congress, did not participate in the debate and continued with its protests and sloganeering through the passage of the Bill.

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The Question Hour progressed smoothly in the morning for most of the time. However, the trouble erupted when Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully tried to intervene, seeking clarification over a reply to a question on the situation of law and order from the Congress member.

The Speaker did not allow it, saying, “Only the member concerned can raise a supplementary.” This met with strong protests from Jully and other party colleagues. They said the LoP has the privilege to intervene; however, the Speaker remained unrelenting.

Unhappy over the Chair’s ruling, opposition Congress members trooped into the well and resorted to aggressive slogan shouting. The members were protesting against the denial of the discussion on adjournment motions, the delay in the Panchayati Raj elections, and the state of law and order.

Speaker Devnani was forced to adjourn the house around 11:45 am until noon. However, most of the protesting members continued to stay in the assembly hall. On reassembling, the slogan shouting resumed in the well, forcing the Speaker to take up Zero Hour. He delivered rulings on notices of the adjournment motions amid the din. However, he could not finish the task amid pandemonium and adjourned the House from 12:15 am until 2 pm.

The atmosphere in the House was so tense that even marshals stood in alert mode encircling the podium, and on a couple of occasions, they were seen in a scuffle with the members. Two opposition women MLAs were seen scuffling with women marshals.

After adjournment of the House for the third time, chamber parleys resumed in the Speaker’s office, which was attended by Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, LoP Jully, and other leaders from the Treasury and the Opposition Benches.

However, the effect of Chamber parleys did not reflect in the House when it reassembled. Opposition members raised slogans, and appeals by Speaker Devnani went unheard, forcing him to adjourn the House for 15 minutes.

Deadlock continued even after the resumption of proceedings. The Forced Conversion (Prevention) Bill 2025 was taken up for passage as the Opposition continued its protests and trooped into the well. The bill seeks to curb religious conversions carried out through inducement, coercion, misrepresentation, or fraudulent means, with far stricter punishments than those proposed earlier.

A one-sided brief debate was held on the bill while the opposition Congress members continued their protest, raising slogans. The Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2025, was passed by a voice vote, and the House was adjourned for the day.