of the Nath community of Barmer district, Mahant Pratap Puri. The Congress has given its ticket to Mohammad Saleh, the son of Ghazi Fakir, a prominent Sindhi-Muslim religious leader in the region.

Religious mobilisation is on in full force in Pokhran. While the upcoming elections are a “test” for Puri, they are an opportunity for former MLA Saleh to contest the seat for the third time.

In 2003, Saleh lost to BJP candidate Shaitan Singh by nearly 35,000 votes. This time, however, the BJP did not give Shaitan Singh a ticket and has instead decided to field a religious leader.

There are 2,00,000 voters in Pokhran, including 50,000 Muslims and 45,000 Rajputs. There are nearly as many Dalit voters as there are others. The Congress hopes that the Muslim as wellare otherwise forced to consume salt water.”

He continued, “Just about 500 metres from the village, there will be a pipeline from the Indira Gandhi canal that will supply water to Pokhran. Because this is a desert region, the houses are more spread out, and most of the people who live in the dwellings are Dalit. They have to pay Rs 500 to Rs 800 to have a freshwater tanker deliver water to them.”

Lalaram is also the head of the Dalit Adhikar Abhiyan. According to him, “The first time Hindu-Muslim polarisation appeared was 20 years ago when Mohammad Saleh’s uncle Fateh Mohammad contested the elections from here. At that time, Ghulab Singh was the BJP candidate. Since then, whenever Muslim and Rajput contenders go up against each other in