Maharashtra assembly on Friday witnessed heated exchanges over Women and Child Development Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha's statement in the House that there have been over 1 lakh 'love jihad' cases in the state.
Nationalist Congress Party MLA Jitendra Awhad said that the number of 'love jihad' cases cited by Lodha two days ago was factually incorrect and that there have been nearly 3,000 cases of interfaith marriages.
'Love jihad' is a term often used by right-wing activists to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.
Bharatiya Janata Party members Yogesh Sagar, Ashish Shelar and Jaykumar Rawal and Water Supply Minister Gulabrao Patil, who belongs to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, said Awhad was being biased because of his constituency.
Awhad represents Mumbra which has a sizeable Muslim population.
While Samajwadi Party's Abu Asim Azmi demanded that Lodha apologise for his comment, Shelar countered it saying there should be a law instead to prevent instances of 'love jihad'.
Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar urged Speaker Rahul Narvekar to intervene and expunge anything that is objectionable.