Filmmaker dubs viral Kumbh Mela girl’s wedding ‘love jihad’, plans to approach MP CM
Khargone (MP) (PTI): Film director Sanoj Mishra has claimed the marriage of Monalisa Bhonsle, the young woman who gained prominence during last year's Prayagraj Kumbh Mela, with a Muslim man is a case of "love jihad".
After meeting Bhonsle's family on Sunday, Mishra said he would take up the matter with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav.
The term ‘love jihad’ is used by right-wing groups to allege a conspiracy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into relationships and marriage to convert them to Islam.
Bhonsle, who is from Maheshwar town in MP and part of the nomadic Pardhi community, shot to fame after videos of her selling garlands and rudraksha during the 2025 Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj went viral on social media.
She married Farman Khan on March 11 at the Nainar Temple at Arumanoor in Kerala, according to her family.
Bhonsle is shooting in the southern state for her Malayalam debut movie ‘Nagamma’, which is being filmed near Thiruvananthapuram.
Talking to reporters after meeting her parents in Maheshwar, Mishra said he expected the MP government to take the matter seriously and that he was trying to secure an appointment with the chief minister to present the entire sequence of events along with the family.
He claimed the family now realises that it was “a well-planned attempt to trap the girl”.
Certain organisations fund unemployed youths to target Hindu girls to “defame Sanatan Dharma”. Bhonsle's wedding is 'love jihad', he charged.
Bhonsle had been selected for the lead role in his upcoming movie ‘The Diary of Manipur’, which deals with the issue of religious conversion, the filmmaker said.
Mishra alleged that he and his “Sanatani ideology” were targeted because of the film and that Bhonsle was brainwashed and trapped. The entire episode appears to have been “written and executed like a script”, he added.
The filmmaker also questioned why the wedding took place in Kerala. He said the relationship between Bhonsle and her husband was being portrayed as an example of communal harmony.
“Had the boy been Hindu and the girl Muslim, would the relationship have been promoted in the same way?” he asked.
During the meeting, Bhonsle's grandmother, aunt, younger sister and other family members said they were facing social humiliation due to the incident.
Her uncle Vijay Bhonsle claimed she was born in 2009 and was still a minor. He alleged that her age was increased in documents during the passport process, enabling the marriage to be projected as legal.
Monalisa Bhonsle, however, earlier said the reports of her being underage were “fake and incorrect. “I am 18 years old,” she told the media in Kerala after her marriage last week.
A family member alleged that Farman had earlier addressed Monalisa Bhonsle as his sister.
Local BJP leader Vikram Patel claimed that Bhonsle had fallen victim to a conspiracy in Kerala and said legal experts were being consulted before raising the matter with the chief minister.
Mishra said he would continue to raise the issue until “justice” was served.
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Power tariffs under BESCOM to rise from May 1
Bengaluru (PTI): Power bills for consumers under the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) will go up from May 1, following an order issued by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Friday.
The hike comes after KERC allowed the BESCOM to recover a revenue deficit of Rs 2,068 crore incurred in 2024-25, from the consumers.
As a result, for every unit of electricity consumed in 2024-25, the customers will be charged an additional 56 paise, it said.
"BESCOM shall calculate, for each of the active consumers of FY2024-25 the amount to be recovered based on their actual energy consumption during FY2024-25. Such amount shall be recovered during FY 2026-27 in equal monthly instalments, to be called as 'FY25 True up Charges', commencing from the first meter reading date falling on or after 1 May 2026 and concluding with the reading date ending on 30 April 2027," the order said.
"It is further ordered that BESCOM shall maintain a separate head of account, allocated for the purpose, to record the adjustment of the said amount to ensure full recovery of the deficit," it added.
Similarly Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) has also recorded a revenue deficit of Rs 121.71 crore and can collect an additional 15 paisa per unit for consumption in 2024-25, official sources said.
