Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Giriraj Singh.
Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Thursday accused the Bhupesh Baghel government in Chhattisgarh of encouraging religious conversions and said a law would be brought to curb this if the Bharatiya Janata Party is elected to power in the state. The Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj also said democracy would be in danger if 'sanatan' and 'adivasi' lose their identities.
Addressing a rally at Town Club ground in Jagdalpur, the headquarter of Bastar district, he also accused the Congress government of siphoning off funds provided by the Centre for various schemes. "The Baghel government is encouraging religious conversion, particularly in Bastar region. The countdown of this government has begun. On the basis of conversion, you (Congress) will not be able to form the government. A conspiracy is being played in the country and Baghel is also a part of it,” Mr Singh alleged.
A law will be enacted to curb such conversions after the BJP wins the Chhattisgarh Assembly polls scheduled for later in the year, Mr Singh, a Lok Sabha Member of Parliament from Begusarai in Bihar, said. Without Sanatan and tribals, there is no identity of India and democracy will be under threat the day "sanatan and adivasi" lose their identities, he claimed.
Mr Singh said some of his party colleagues had informed that Chief Minister Baghel likes being called 'kaka' (uncle) as a term of endearment but was indulging in corruption instead of working for the welfare of the state and its people.
"If you really are a kaka (benevolent uncle), the poor in Chhattisgarh would have got pucca houses and tribals would have got their rights," he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)