Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara has ordered the deployment of the Special Action Force (SAF) in Mandya district to control rising communal tensions. SAF is already active in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and Shivamogga. The 280-member SAF focuses on maintaining communal peace by monitoring hate speeches, violent acts, and social media content. It alerts local police to act but cannot investigate cases directly. Since June 2025, the SAF has kept coastal districts calm. The decision to send SAF to Mandya follows several recent communal incidents. Mandya, known for its largely agrarian Vokkaliga community, had avoided communal politics for years. However, tensions have increased through incidents like conflicts during the Hanuma Jayanti procession in Srirangapatna, the flag dispute in Keregodu in January 2024, and stone pelting during Ganesha immersion in Nagamangala and Maddur. Political analysts link the rise in intolerance to the alliance between BJP and JD(S), the latter traditionally strong in Mandya. Though Congress won six of seven Assembly seats in 2023, JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy won the Lok Sabha seat in 2024. The Congress accuses JD(S) supporters of backing BJP’s Hindutva politics, deepening religious divides. The BJP-JD(S) alliance has changed local dynamics. JD(S), once competing with Congress for Muslim votes, now allies with BJP, as seen in protests wearing saffron shawls. Massive protests after the stone pelting in Maddur were backed by both JD(S) and BJP leaders, despite police arrests. Congress hopes the SAF deployment will restore peace in Mandya. Meanwhile, BJP gains ground in the Vokkaliga heartland, but JD(S) faces an uncertain future amid shifting alliances.