The riots that broke out in Nagpur on the evening of March 17 have drawn national attention to the rising incidents of communal tension in Maharashtra. Nagpur, the headquarters of the RSS, is the hometown of Maharashtra Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister for Road Transport Nitin Gadkari. Both Fadnavis and Gadkari immediately issued a public appeal for peace on the same evening. However, the fact that an otherwise peaceful city has descended into communal strife shocked the State and raised serious questions about the timing of the violence and the possible sociopolitical factors behind it.