Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias has opposed a proposal to enact a stringent law restricting conversion in the poll-bound western Indian state of Maharashtra, saying it violates fundamental rights. In its election manifesto, the state’s ruling alliance, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), promised to enact a stringent law making religious conversions difficult if re-elected to power. Cardinal Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai, said that state laws should not try to control a religious conversion, which is the choice of a person’s conscience. “No civil authority has the right to enter the shrine, which is the conscience of every single person, let alone decide what a conscience should say,” Cardinal Gracias said. Some 96 million voters in the state are scheduled to elect their 288 representatives to the state legislative on Nov. 20. According to the Election Commission of India, which conducts the elections, more than 4,136 candidates are in the fray. Although hundreds of independent candidates are contesting, the major fight is between the BJP-led ruling alliance and the secular alliance led by the Indian National Congress party that led the Indian independence struggle. Cardinal Gracias said all political parties should respect the secular values of the Indian constitution, which includes religious freedom. “Freedom of religion and the right to convert are fundamental human rights, protected by India’s Constitution,” and “for Christians, conversion is a personal transformation of the heart,” he said. “No government can come into my soul and tell my conscience saying, ‘you cannot change your religion. You must worship God in this way,” he said.