By Navneet Mishra

New Delhi, Nov 22 (IANS): With just a few days left for the Jharkhand polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has once again raised the issue of conversion. In order to stop conversions, Nishikant Dubey, the BJP MP from Godda, suggested that the Central government deny such people the benefits of reservation.

"Those who became Christian after conversion and enjoy the benefits of Schedule Tribe (ST) should not be given the benefit of the reservation. This issue has been raised during the discussion of Constituent Assembly. More than 1.5 crore tribals of the country have been converted till now which shows the grave picture of the situation," Dubey told IANS.

The BJP lawmaker raised the issue in Parliament also on Wednesday. He urged the Modi government to take stringent steps regarding the same. His tweet over the issue is also going viral on social media.

Dubey in Lok Sabha said, "Only three per cent of the tribals converted till 1947 in Jharkhand. A law was made in 1937 which said that anyone can get converted but he/she has to inform the Collector about the same. But after independence, 20 per cent of the total ST population has been converted. Almost 1.5 crore people across the country have been converted."

Citing the discussion in the Lok Sabha on the Constituent Assembly, Dubey said that the culture of the ST has changed completely.

He said, "It was discussed during the meeting that if this continues then the ST will not get the benefits of reservation after conversion."