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?