The Indian Air Force’s(IAF) strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammad terror outfit in Pakistan’s Balakot has killed two birds with one stone. The IAF incursions, smartly called “non-military pre-emptive action,” gave BJP the boost it sought.
The unavoidable prospects that Pakistan might retaliate could put fresh pressure on Modi’s government, but the success in crossing the LoC and the safe return of pilots was a cause of celebration.
The BJP won the 2014 elections flagging the issue of anti-incumbency against the UPA regime. 2019, however, appears to be splitting up into multiple polls on issues of unemployment, farm distress, limited delivery of promises, and above all, caste arithmetic.
BJP is different in a manner that it managed to launch such operation twice in its tenure, the real effect of which would only be seen in the 2019 battle.
The Indian Air Force’s(IAF) strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammad terror outfit in Pakistan’s Balakot has killed two birds with one stone. The IAF incursions, smartly called “non-military pre-emptive action,” gave BJP the boost it sought. Not many can realize that the strike comes at an appropriate time when Congress and other opposition parties had begun to question the ruling party resolve to tackle terrorism in the wake of the Pulwama attack that happened a couple of weeks ago.
The unavoidable prospects that Pakistan might retaliate could put fresh pressure on Modi’s government, but the success in crossing the LoC and the safe return of pilots was a cause of celebration. Now the party could also use this operation to take a jibe on a taunting opposition, which now would have to struggle to catch up with Modi and regain the momentum it had pre-Pulwama.
The BJP won the 2014 elections flagging the issue of anti-incumbency against the UPA regime. 2019, however, appears to be splitting up into multiple polls on issues of unemployment, farm distress, limited delivery of promises, and above all, caste arithmetic. In such a time, what can be better than a sentiment of patriotism to subsume the issues mentioned above and other emotions?
Though the move has to mend BJP’s image to some extent, it is too early to say that winning half the battle will ensure the final victory for Modi. Repeated episodes of foreign-based terrorists striking at will had not pushed citizens into despair. Even the victory in Kargil did not help Atal Bihari Vajpayee in his bid to increase his party’s tally – it remained static at 182 in 1999. In two long decades, the 1999 hijack of Indian airlines flight IC 814, the attack on Parliament, the Mumbai terror attacks, the strikes on Pathankot air base, Uri camp, and the new CRPF convoy, became just instances which built up anger against Pakistan and bolstered a sense of nationalism for a while. BJP is different in a manner that it managed to launch such operation twice in its tenure, the real effect of which would only be seen in the 2019 battle.
The Modi Government will also have to utilize gains from this operation to further leverage India’s international standing. Most importantly, even if Pakistan accepts the humiliation for the moment and not head for retaliation, it remains Modi’s task to ensure there are no terrorist strikes anywhere within India between now and the entire poll process.
