Madhya Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief VD Sharma hit out at the Congress for repealing the anti-conversion law in Karnataka and said the party "has exposed its jihadi face". He added that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's "mohabbat ki dukaan" is only for "jihadis" and "those who are involved in conversion".

He said the people of Madhya Pradesh want to know if Congress state chief Kamal Nath supports the decision of the Karnataka government of repealing the anti-conversion law". He added that if Nath supports it, then he is "anti-society..."

कर्नाटक में धर्मांतरण विरोधी कानून रद्द कर कांग्रेस ने जिहादी चेहरा उजागर किया है। यह सिद्ध हो गया कि कांग्रेस की हनुमान भक्ति ढोंग है और राहुल गांधी की "मोहब्बत की दुकान" जिहादियों के लिए चल रही है।

कमलनाथ-दिग्विजय सिंह बताएं, क्या वे कर्नाटक सरकार के फैसले का समर्थन करते हैं? pic.twitter.com/vOhHSHqIzA— VD Sharma (@vdsharmabjp) June 16, 2023

Sharma's statement came ahead of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections which are due this year. Both the parties, the BJP and the Congress, have already started reaching out the voters in the state for the upcoming elections.

While reacting to the BJP's objection to the Congress-led Karnataka government's move, Karnataka Congress Working President Saleem Ahmed told ANI, the BJP "have not come out of this defeat".

He said the party's "statements will not help in the development of the state".

"We are doing what we had promised about the three Bills including APMC and anti-conversion earlier," he added.

#WATCH | They (BJP) just lost the elections badly and have not come out of this defeat. Their statements will not help in the development of the state. What we had promised about the three Bills including APMC and anti-conversion earlier, we are doing: Saleem Ahmed, Karnataka… pic.twitter.com/lItRwK88a5

— ANI (@ANI) June 16, 2023

The Karnataka government decided to repeal the controversial anti-conversion law that was passed in the state assembly, by the then administration led by the BJP.

The "Anti-conversion Bill" also known as "Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021", was passed by the BJP government led by Basavaraj Bommai on December 23, 2021, that was ousted by the Congress party in the Karnataka assembly elections held last month.

The repealed law provided for the protection of the right to freedom of religion and prohibition of unlawful conversion from one religion to another by misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means. The repealed anti-conversion law proposed imprisonment from three to five years with a fine of Rs 25,000.

When the Bill was passed in December 2021, the Congress vehemently opposed the bill, calling it "anti-people", "inhuman", "anti-constitutional", "anti-poor" and "draconian".