Former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa’s comment that India’s airstrikes in Pakistan’s Balakot will “help BJP win 22 seats in Karnataka” appears to have become an embarrassment not just for the BJP but for the country itself.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf – used the BJP leader’s comment to taunt India and allege that Indians were “manipulated into war-mongering” by “people who are desperate to win an election”. On Thursday, 28 February, the party tweeted this from its handle, quoting journalist Barkha Dutt’s tweet condemning Yeddyurappa’s comment.
About half an hour later, the PTI posted another tweet, alleging that war is being used as an election tactic.
The aim of PTI’s tweets appear to be two-fold:
- Try to drive a wedge between the Indian government and the people by insinuating that the stand-off with Pakistan was the misadventure of “one man” (read Prime Minister Narendra Modi), who is “desperate to win an election”.
- Divert attention from the fact that India’s airstrike at Balakot was provoked by the Pulwama Attack of 14 February, that was carried out by Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad. There was no dispute regarding Pulwama Attack or the Balakot Air Stike as the Opposition stood solidly with the government on both.
But the problem is that BJP leader Yeddyurappa’s comment has given Pakistan the chance to project India as a divided house and show the Indo-Pak standoff as being the result of the BJP’s electoral plans and not a reaction to the Pulwama attack.
Yeddyurappa later clarified that his comments were taken out of context. But that damage had already been done.
The PTI’s tweet would particularly be embarrassing for the BJP as only a day earlier, on 27 February, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had accused Opposition parties of playing into Pakistan’s hands.
However, as luck would have it, it is not the Opposition but BJP’s own leader Yeddyurappa’s comments that are being used by Pakistan’s ruling party to further its political agenda.
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