From Military Operation to Election Tool: How BJP is Politicising 'Sindoor'

From train tickets to Modi’s speeches, BJP is politicizing Operation Sindoor, using war to push electoral agendas.

Op Sindoor or Op Election? Here’s How BJP is Politicising a Military Operation.

(The Quint/Vibhushita Singh)

The Big Picture:
Operation Sindoor, launched in retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack, was India’s military answer to cross-border terrorism. But what began as a counter-insurgency effort is now being projected as political capital across BJP-ruled states, through posters, slogans, social campaigns, and even train tickets.

Visuals of PM Modi in military-themed posters have flooded petrol pumps, social media, and public spaces.

A BJP-linked campaign claimed that sindoor would be distributed to women across homes — drawing fierce backlash, before being labelled “fake” by PIB. Yet, BJP's own pages shared sindoor application events linked to Modi’s leadership.

Between the Lines:
• Modi’s photo is printed on train tickets with the “Operation Sindoor” tag.
• BJP’s Bihar unit released videos of women applying sindoor amid footage of fighter jets.
• Defence personnel’s families, including Col Sofia Qureshi’s, were called to participate in Modi roadshows named “Sindoor Samman Yatra.”

By the Numbers:
• 26 Indian soldiers died in the Pahalgam attack.
• 18 more lives lost in subsequent Pakistan-backed assaults during the same period.

Home Minister Amit Shah publicly targeted Muslims and Mamata Banerjee, accusing them of disrespecting Operation Sindoor — even as TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee joined the international delegation promoting it.

What We’re Watching:
With elections in Bihar and Bengal nearing, PM Modi’s nationwide rallies prominently mention Operation Sindoor. Meanwhile, soldiers’ families and political analysts are left asking: Who owns the story of sacrifice: the soldier or the state?