New Delhi: The Pulwama tragedy of 40 CRPF men killed in a suicidal bomb attack on February 14, pre-emptive bombing of terror camps at Balakot and elsewhere in Pakistan in retaliation and Pakistan forced to release wing commander Abhinanddan Varthman on March 1 have given a clear electoral edge to Prime Minister Modi and his Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
The tension continuing between India and Pakistan with no propects of de-escalation before the elections also gave them an excellent opportunity to reap the rich electoral harvests.
Incessant violations of the ceasefire by Pakistan with heavy shelling across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir further make the situation grave. In absence of any concrete achievements of the BJP-led NDA government since it assumed power on 26 May 2014, Pulwama tragedy has come Modi’s way as a God’s gift since the BJP’s political fortunes were nosediving.
Given his talent to turn a tragedy into a political opportunity. Modi did not even pause a minute to go into grief as a normal citizen would have done but began to exploit popular sentiments for electoral objectives. Modi’s strategy becomes clear from his schedule after news of killing of over 40 CRPF personnel broke. Modi on that day at that particular hour was at the Jim Corbett national park. He had gone there for a shoot of a documentary for Discovery TV channel. He did not stop the filming instead continued with the shoot.
At the same time, not only Modi’s close confidante and colleague BJP chief Amit Shah continued to address election rally in Assam but also even other party leaders remained politically active. In 15 days since Pulwama, neither the Prime Minister nor any of his governmental and party colleagues ceased or postponed election related activities for a minute even while country’s jet fighters were attacking terrorist camps in Pakistan or Indian pilot Abhinandan was in Pakistan custody.