“There is a downfall in incidents related to goondaism and corruption but unemployment has risen…BJP is not fighting on the issue of development, they are fighting on the issue of Hindu-Muslim. Development won’t happen this way,” says Rajdeep Singh Patel, member of the panchayat in Mirzapur’s Bhawa village, outside his house.
Once known for its carpet-weaving industry, which has shifted to the neighbouring Bhadohi, Mirzapur is now a household name courtesy an Amazon Prime crime caper, if not as among India’s 250 most backward districts.
