Once a thriving hub in India’s denim supply chain, West Delhi’s Muslim-majority Khayala jeans market slid into crisis after the 2024 Delhi elections. An unfounded conspiracy theory, amplified by local influencers and the media, ended in closed businesses and thousands of lost jobs, including those of Hindus and Sikhs. Khayala’s decline reflects a wider pattern: similar boycotts have been reported over the past four years in nine states—eight of them ruled by the BJP—including Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.