Post URI Attack: Modi And Party Hardening The Knuckle

Post­-Uri, the prospects of Modi and party hinge on walking the talk on freedom from terror.

- Bula Devi

The BJP had christened the ven­ue at Kozhikode ‘Swapna Nagari’ and hired the services of celebrated chef Pazhayidam Moh­anan Namboothiri to cater to the 3,000­odd delegates expec­ted to attend the national council and the national executive meeting. The concluding day was to be dedicated to celebrations and a 100­course ‘Onam style’ meal. But the terrorists’ attack on the army camp in Uri cast an inevitable shadow on the conclave.

While the situation in Kashmir and poll prospects in Uttar Pradesh were both to be discussed, much of the conclave was inevitably consumed in discussing India’s response to provocations from across the western border. While the meeting expectedly endorsed the government’s hardline policy towards Pakistan and the prime minister’s vow to the nation that the perpetrators (he meant the masterminds) would not go unpunished, several delegates expectedly raised some uncomfortable questions.

Days before the meeting, senior national executive member Yashwant Sinha told Outlook that the Kashmir situation and relations with Pakistan were unavoidable issues for discussion in the meeting. “On behalf of the government,” he said, “one of the ministers will have to brief members of the national council and the national executive about the government’s view.”