Obviously, the question itself is redundant. Of course, the BJP is milking the pre-emptive strikes. Gaurav Bhatia cannot deny it, not when General Elections 2019 is hardly 60 days away. At the same time, Bhatia cannot answer in the affirmative, not when every BJP leader, from Prime Minister Narendra Modi down, is blatantly using the Balakote strikes to sway voters fed on a diet of nationalism.

The BJP cannot admit to “milking” Balakote; especially, not when Modi and Amit Shah are addressing political rally after political rally and telling captive crowds that the Congress and the rest of the opposition “doubt” the valour of the armed forces and the integrity and professionalism of the Indian Air Force. The BJP cannot confess to “milking” the strikes for electoral advantage as long as the party speaks from the podium of national security.

The Bharatiya Janata Party will go on “milking” the strikes till the day after general elections 2019 but will not admit after the fact. It cannot afford to, not when the united opposition is bent on exposing the BJP to just such a charge. The ongoing war of words between the BJP and Congress fits the narrative of both parties. Neither party is willing to back off; it doesn’t matter if the morale of the armed forces is affected or the enemy takes advantage.

The BJP line is along the larger Modi narrative seen taking shape ever since the NDA Government came to power in 2014. The Modi Government does ‘this’ and ‘that’, but always little or no details are given out in the public domain. And when questioned, leaks happen. An audio recording or a visual tape is played out on television news channels, months after the claim. It is left for the public to make the most of what is leaked. But always after a multitude of baseless claims muddy the waters.

That is the Modi-template. The leaks come in trickles, such that it becomes hard to connect the dots. It happened with the surgical strikes and is happening with the pre-emptive strikes. And as with the surgical strikes, it is “believe us or you’re an anti-national, now shout Jai Hind, Bharat Mata Ki Jai!” BJP politicians and journalists friendly with the establishment have made a career out of charging rivals with the “crime” of “anti-nationalism”.

Why, even Doklam and the government’s “muscular” Kashmir policy fit the narrative eminently. As did cries to not ask uncomfortable questions on “institutions” like the CBI, RBI, CVC… And, ah yes, don’t question the GDP figures, jobs data and unemployment numbers. Accept the diktat or you’re “anti-national.” The “national/anti-national” debate has risen to such a crescendo, it is drowning every other voice in the Republic! The bellicosity and belligerence that comes with the demand is dangerous, ominous. It’s like the dark swarm in the Hollywood flick, The Omen!

The nationalist rhetoric of BJP leaders has overwhelmed all other conversation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi keeps saying “Ghar Mein Guske Marange” at every rally he has addressed after Balakote. So much so, “Ghar Mein Guske Marange” is sounding more and more like the BJP’s vote-catching slogan for GE 2019; so different from 2014’s ‘Acche Din Aayenge’. Narendra Modi and the BJP milked ‘Achche Din Aayenga’ to come to power in 2014. Certainly they will milk dry “Ghar Mein Ghuske Marenga” to return to power mid-2019. But don’t expect Gaurav Bhatia to admit to that. Confessions are not for the Hindutva.
(IPA Service)