How Punjab's latest Muslim majority district will encourage Hindutva forces

The Amarinder government declared Malerkotla, where more than half the population is Muslim, the newest district of Punjab on Eid as a symbolic gesture to the community

It’s not often that two high-profile chief ministers in India take pot shots at each other. So, when Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called his Punjab counterpart Amarinder Singh’s decision to declare the state’s Muslim majority sub-district of Malerkotla a full-fledged district an embodiment of the “divisive politics of the Congress”, tongues were set wagging on all sides.

While Amarinder asked Adityanath to mind his own business, the move could well resonate in both Punjab and UP, which go to the polls next year.

The Amarinder government declared Malerkotla, where more than half the population is Muslim, the newest