The BJP on Monday termed the Centre’s rejection of the amendments made to the Freedom of Religion Law made by the Madhya Pradesh Assembly as “unfortunate” and accused the UPA government of adopting a “partial approach against opposition parties”.

“The law was made in 1968 by the Congress government led by Ravi Shankar Shukla in MP to check forced religious conversions. The amendments passed by the state legislature were aimed at making it more stringent. But the decision of the (central) government to ask the President not to okay the amendment shows the Centre’s partial approach against opposition parties,” said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar here on Monday.

“While the Constitution favours religious freedom, it is against forced conversions,” said Javadekar, adding that “one of the amendments has made it compulsory for the people to apply for conversion”.

Javadekar pointed to the Centre’s stand on GUJCOC to drive home the “anti-Opposition stance of the Centre”. “It was in line with MCOCA set up by the Maharashtra government. While a law framed by Congress-rule state is okay, a similar law proposed by a BJP-ruled government is wrong,” he said. The BJP, meanwhile, also flayed Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar for his recent statement on the country “not facing a drought-like situation”. “With monsoon failing to meet its date, the farmers are in a bad shape. The Agriculture Minister does not see suicides by farmers and fails to understand their problems, which shows the anti-people attitude of the government,” added Javadekar.