Modi gets back his mojo, surgical strikes will benefit BJP in state elections
New Delhi: In the forthcoming state elections, the BJP is all set to ‘milk’ the surgical strikes as much as they can.
The surgical strikes conducted by the Indian Army along the Line of Control are expected to boost the image of prime minister Narendra Modi and the BJP domestically.
Following the Uri attack, the prime minister's reputation of being a "tough PM, who means business" was being severely dented and the BJP apprehended that this could adversely impact in the forthcoming high stake assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
In UP, it's the prime minister who will be leading the campaign. The domestic constituency of the BJP and the prime minister had taken a major hit following two successive terrorist attacks in Pathankot followed by Uri in which 18 soldiers were killed.
The surgical strikes changed all of that, a senior BJP functionary said. The body language of the BJP top brass changed overnight from defensive to that of confident leaders.
The BJP now intends to build the entire electoral campaign on three pillars- national security, development and governance. Earlier it was only development and governance.
Sending a clear signal to this effect, party president Amit Shah said; "It is for the first time, in this frontal fight against terrorism, India under the leadership of prime minister Modi is feeling secure."
In the forthcoming polls, the BJP is all set to "milk" the strikes as much as they can, the saffron leader said.
If the Pathankot strike had put a question mark on prime minister's image of being the "iron man", the Uri strike virtually rocked the saffron boat. Modi, who had gone on record promising that the "the guilty would not go unpunished" was under tremendous pressure to show results.
BJP was being ridiculed on social media and the opposition was all set to take advantage. After the Uri attack, Congress and BSP hit out at the prime minister and said that he had failed to spell out concrete steps to avert an Uri-type attack. They also claimed that Modi's election promises of tackling terrorism with an iron hand have turned out to be "bluff".
For now, the surgical strike carried out by the Army, which apparently is the "first of its kind" has silenced the opposition, which has queued up to endorse the government's move.
A senior party functionary revealed that the top brass of the BJP had realised that nothing short of a strong and muscular military action would "satisfy the domestic constituency." Now that the government has delivered, the prime minister is back where he belonged. At the top.
