Margao: State Congress president Girish Chodankar on Saturday questioned the timing and intent of state govt’s move to bring in an anti-conversion bill, alleging that BJP dispensation was using the legislation as a political tool ahead of the 2027 assembly elections.Chodankar said govt had first cleared the anti-conversion bill in the cabinet and was now set to introduce it in the assembly, and demanded to know the actual objective behind the exercise.He sought to know govt’s data on the issue the bill claims to address. “How many victims of conversion have been identified in Goa by govt, and how many accused have been booked?” Chodankar asked.He said Goa needed stronger anti-political defection laws and an anti-land conversion Bill far more urgently, along with stronger anti-corruption legislation. “What Goa needs is an anti-political conversion Bill, and an anti-land conversion bill. The anti-corruption laws in the state need to be strengthened. Govt has rendered the Lokayukta toothless,” the state Congress president said.He said that Congress would oppose the legislation, as it was a threat to the state’s social fabric.“When there are several such issues facing Goa, what’s the need of the anti-conversion bill? We won’t allow BJP to destroy the communal harmony of Goa. We will fiercely oppose the bill, and try to preserve the communal harmony of the state,” Chodankar said.
