In Rajasthan's Bhilwara, Recent Communal Riots Set To Affect Polls

The city of Bhilwara is often referred to as India's Manchester due to its significant presence in the textile industry, producing fabrics for several major brands. However, in recent times, Bhilwara has gained more attention due to tension between two communities. Just two months ago, the Mandal area of Bhilwara was shut down for seven days following an incident where a girl from one community was forcibly made to consume urine by boys from another community.

The Mandal area in Bhilwara district has recently witnessed riots and subsequent police lathi-charges. Some individuals we encountered during our reporting believe that this issue is likely to heavily influence the upcoming elections. Initially, the public was very upset about the incident and the police's handling of it. The allegations of the Congress against the BJP are baseless because such matters cannot progress without an incident occurring. However, if an incident does occur, it will certainly impact the elections. Even first-time voters believe that this incident has been one-sidedly exploited and seems to target Hindus. "Shouldn't issues concerning daughters be the focus of elections? We are not associated with any political party," said one of them.

According to some locals, all of this is the BJP's tactics to instigate strife within society. They claim that the BJP doesn't have any real work to do in the name of development, so they orchestrate such disputes.

However, a person named Ayub Khan denies having such sentiments. He believes that this incident was a conspiracy orchestrated by outsiders against Muslims. He is certain that this incident will not have any impact on the elections. People have benefited from government schemes. The individual involved in the incident has faced consequences for their actions, he said.