Sushil Kumar Modi at his janata durbar on Tuesday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Dec. 16: Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi today demanded a national debate on religious conversion, a couple of days after the party’s MP from Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath, asked seers to bring back the people who converted to other religions to the Hindu fold.

Admitting that he had no idea or information if any person was converted to other religions in the state in the past few years, the former deputy chief minister said on the sidelines of his weekly janata durbar: “There should be a national consensus on the religious conversion. It deserves a national debate.”

Modi’s stand on the issue is identical to that of the central BJP leadership.

A few days back, parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu had said there should be a consensus on the religious conversion and any legislation in this connection would be brought only after a broad consensus.

The debate demand of Modi assumes significance after Yogi Adityanath gave a clarion call to sadhus and sants to work across the state for bringing back those into the Hindu fold who converted to other religions and stop religious conversion by Muslims and Christian missionaries.

The senior BJP leader’s statement also came at a time when plan is afoot to convert at least 4,000 Christian and 1,000 Muslim families into Hinduism under ghar wapsi (returning home) programme on December 25 at Aligarh.

Firebrand BJP leader Yogi Adityanath is supposed to be present at the event.

Not just Modi of the BJP, the ruling JDU is also in favour of a national debate on the conversion issue.

The party’s state spokesperson, Ajay Alok, said: “Even we are ready for a debate and national consensus on religious conversion, but there should be no forceful conversion of any person as the Sangh parivar is trying to do.”

Despite the ruling party’s stand on the conversion issue being identical to that of Modi’s, the senior BJP leader lambasted the JDU government on the corruption front. Modi claimed that the present government was more corrupt than that of Lalu Prasad-Rabri Devi.

He said: “In the Lalu-Rabri regime, only fodder scam occurred. But in Manjhi’s tenure, there were medicine and excise scams.”

The BJP leader attacked the JDU government for providing Rs 100 crore undue benefit to liquor suppliers by increasing the base rate of country-made liquor in violation of tender conditions.

Modi said the government revised the base rate of 200ml country liquor pouches from Rs 2.66 to Rs 3.04 and that of 400ml pouches from Rs 4.49 to Rs 5.26.

The BJP leader said the rate was calculated on the basis of minimum guaranteed quota for suppliers, fixed by the excise department but it was changed to benefit some liquor traders.

Modi claimed that it was done at the behest of some people close to former chief minister Nitish Kumar posted in the excise department.

The BJP leader also said the party’s national president, Amit Shah, would visit Patna for attending a function at SK Memorial Hall on January 23.

In April, Shah will hold a rally at Gandhi Maidan.