New Delhi: Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party chief B.S. Yeddyurappa on Wednesday said that India’s “pre-emptive airstrikes” on Balakot in Pakistan has created a wave in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and will help the party win over 22 of 28 seats in the state in the coming Lok Sabha polls.
“The atmosphere….day by day the wind is increasingly blowing in favour of BJP. Yesterday’s action of destroying terror hideouts by entering inside Pakistan has resulted in a pro-Modi wave in the country, the results of which can be seen in coming Lok Sabha polls,” Yeddyurappa said.
Speaking to reporters in Chitradurga, he said, “It has enthused youths; all this will help us in winning more than 22 Lok Sabha seats (in Karnataka).”
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Currently, the BJP holds 16 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, the Congress 10 and Janata Dal (Secular) 2. The Congress and JD(S), currently the ruling alliance in the state, have decided to contest the Lok Sabha polls together and begun discussions about seat sharing.
India has said that it conducted a “pre-emptive strike” on a Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp early Tuesday, killing a “very large number” of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders. Pakistan has denied that any terror camp has been hit and said that there were no casualties.
Independent reports from journalists have suggested that a madrassa run by Jaish chief Masood Azhar was the target.
India’s action came close on the heels of the Pulwama incident in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.
A coalition of 21 opposition parties on Wednesday hit out at the BJP and Modi government for the “blatant politicisation of the sacrifices made by our Armed Forces”.
The opposition’s statement came in light of one Indian Air Force pilot being in Pakistan’s custody. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured during a border skirmish between the two countries’ air forces.
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The opposition leaders also said that “the Prime Minister has, regrettably, not convened an-all party meeting as per the established practice in our democracy.”
The opposition parties agreed that the government should “take the nation into confidence on all measures to protect India’s sovereignty, unity and integrity” in light of the MEA acknowledging “the targeting of our military installations and loss of one fighter aircraft” on Wednesday.
(With PTI inputs)