Opposition leaders led by Congress president Rahul Gandhi have mounted a fierce attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after a brief hiatus forced by the Indo-Pak tension following the Pulwama terror attack and the IAF bombing of Balakot terror camp. However, the Prime Minister, who was under pressure to deliver the first back-to-back victory for the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, looks a confident man after securing the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman by Pakistan government.
The preemptive strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed’s Balakot terror camp has lent credence to Prime Minister Modi’s image of a strong and decisive leader who could safeguard the nation in times of crises. As the chief minister of Gujarat, he was a bitter critic of UPA’s security policy, terming it weak and indecisive.
The Pulwama attack on a convoy of CRPF personnel last month occurred at a time when Modi was looking for a narrative that could catapult him back to power in the Lok Sabha elections due in April-May. Though his government’s Budget full of populist measures for farmers and the middle class, two groups crucial for the party’s victory, may have tilted the scales in his favour, no one was sure it was enough to give him an outright victory in the elections.
It was clear that the Prime Minister was not on a strong wicket as his party lost three Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh to the main opposition Congress. These states had played crucial role in BJP’s victory in Lok Sabha elections 2014.
The party had suffered the assembly election setback despite launching multiple big budget welfare schemes that included world’s biggest health insurance scheme – Ayushman Bharat that aims to cover nearly 50 crore people, and increasing minimum support price to one and a half times of the input cost of farming. Several other welfare schemes like Ujjwala Yojana for giving subsidised gas connections to poor households, offering bank loans without collateral to small businesses under Mudra scheme, Skill India and other such schemes also failed to impress the voters.
Prime Minister Modi is not the first leader that is expected to benefit from his muscular approach towards arch enemy Pakistan. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s victory in 1999 Lok Sabha elections was also attributed to his tough stand against Pakistani intruders that led to a limited war between the nuclear armed rivals in Kargil sector in state of Jammu & Kashmir.
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi also gained immense popularity following a decisive victory of Indian forces over Pakistan in 1971 war that ended with birth of a new nation Bangladesh on India’s eastern borders.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strong action against Pakistan based terror groups is likely to help him regain some of the lost ground after five years of anti-incumbency. The party will once again project him as a strong and decisive leader capable of safeguarding the nation as BJP President Amit Shah had said following the airstrikes.