Amit Shah and Yeddyurappa mention air strikes in context of getting votes for the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders including party president Amit Shah and former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa have spoken of the air strikes conducted by the Indian Air Force across the Line of Border to destroy terror cells like the Jaish-e-Mohammed on Pakistani soil, linking them to winning the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility for the terror strike which killed over 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel on February 14. In response, India carried out ‘non-military, pre-emptive’ air strikes on Tuesday acting on “credible intelligence” to decimate terror cells in Pakistan which India  said were planning to attack again.

Referring to the air strikes, the former Karnataka chief minister has stated that it will help the BJP win more than 22 seats in the national elections. Yeddyurappa noted that the Prime Minister’s bravery had taught the Pakistanis ‘a lesson’. The BJP leader added that the wind was ‘increasingly blowing in the favour of the BJP’ indicating that the air-strikes had resulted in a ‘pro-Modi wave’.

BJP national president Amit Shah has also spoken about the air strikes conducted by the Indian Air Force in the context of elections. Speaking in Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, Amit Shah asked the people of the country to decide who was more capable of handling terrorism – the ‘gathbandhan’ of the opposition parties or the current regime. He further asked the gathering to think about who can give a ‘mooh tod jawab’ or fitting reply to Pakistan other than Modi. Adding that the air strikes had brought a ‘sense of peace’ to the people, the BJP president congratulated the Prime Minister for displaying ‘political will power’ in curbing terrorism.

Responding to the BJP leader Yeddyurappa’s words, Congress Dinesh Gundu Rao condemned the alleged attempts being made by the Centre to link the air strikes to winning votes. The Congress leader asked if ‘going to war’ was an ‘electoral strategy for the BJP’, calling the words of Yeddyurappa ‘disgusting, shameful and irresponsible’.