The Indian Air Force strike at the Jaish-e Mohammad terror camp in Pakistan’s Balakot will now be officially a part of the BJP campaign: sources

NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force strike at the Jaish-e Mohammad terror camp in Pakistan’s Balakot will now be officially a part of the BJP campaign, sources said today. Amid a huge nationalistic fervour after the air strikes, the BJP has recalibrated its campaign strategy, centering it on nationalism. All of this would be wrapped up in the party’s campaign song, which is being penned by lyricist Prasun Joshi, sources said.

Ahead of the 2014 national elections, PM Modi, who was then the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, brought jingles into the ambit of campaign. The party jingle for the campaign – “Mein Desh Nahin Jhukne Dunga (I won’t let the country hang down its head) – is still heard in parts of Rajasthan.

The “Modi hai toh mumkin hai” slogan, coined by the Prime Minister, was first heard at his rally in Rajasthan’s Tonk on February 23. Talking of his government’s achievements, the Prime Minister had it had brought him the people’s faith. “Modi hai toh mumkin hai” was how he and his government was viewed, he said.

The slogan was mentioned again on Sunday by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the Prime Minister’s rally in Amethi – the Gandhi family stronghold and the constituency of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. The slogan made another appearance at the Prime Minister’s rally at Gujarat’s Ahmedabad yesterday.

Since the air strikes, the Prime Minister had repeatedly underscored the government’s hard line on terror at various political rallies and government functions. He has also ripped into the opposition over its allegations that BJP was using the Balakot air strikes to score political points, accusing it of failing to “serve the national interest”.

The opposition allegation has been fuelled by moves of BJP leaders like BS Yeddyurappa and Manoj Tiwari. Mr Yeddyurappa — a former Chief Minister and key leader of the BJP in Karnataka– was heard speculating on the number of seats the party might win after the air strikes. He later said he had been quoted out of context.

Over the weekend, senior BJP leader Manoj Tiwari was targetted for wearing an army jacket to a political rally. He said he was proud to wear the colours of the army.