Why Opposition ‘full support’ to forces differs from reactions post 2016 surgical strikes, 2019 Balakot

While the Opposition had earlier too declared unconditional support to the government in whatever actions it took against the perpetrators of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and their handlers, the Congress had flagged the issue of “security and intelligence lapses” in subsequent days. It had sought fixing of accountability in a time-bound manner, and said it was time “for demonstrating our collective will as a nation to teach Pakistan a lesson and curb terrorism decisively”.

On Wednesday, the mood was clearly different, with the Congress and other Opposition parties attaching no riders to their support for the government. They were also fulsome in their praise of the armed forces.

Cut to 2019. A day after the Balakot airstrikes in February, in the wake of the Pulwama bombing and amidst the Lok Sabha election campaign, 21 Opposition parties put out a joint statement saying they were “anguished” over the “blatant politicisation” of the sacrifices of armed forces (40 security personnel were killed in the terror attack) by the ruling BJP.

Some days later, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh drew backlash for himself and the party for demanding that the Modi government give “evidence” of the damage it claimed to have caused to Pakistan with its air strikes in Balakot.

The BJP had flagged such “anti-national” remarks during its Lok Sabha poll campaign, which is believed to have hurt the Congress.

The BJP’s aggressive response then showed it had sharpened its knives since 2016, when the Opposition had raised questions regarding the Modi government’s “surgical strikes” on terrorist launchpads across the Line of Control for “lack of details”. The strikes then were in response to a terror attack at a Uri military camp on September 18, leaving 19 dead.

A day after it carried out the surgical strikes on the night of September 28-29, 2016, in response to Uri, the Modi government had briefed an all-party meeting. Then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had personally driven down to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who had been staying away from public events after hospitalisation.

While the government gave few operational details, besides saying the Army operations took place at two points across Kupwara and Poonch, Sonia said in a statement after the meeting that the party “stands with the government”, and called the strikes a “strong message that conveys our country’s resolve to prevent further infiltration and attacks on our security forces and our people”.

Rahul tweeted: “All of us stand firmly united against terrorism and those who support and sponsor it. The Congress Party and I salute the Indian Army and our jawans.”

However, days later, Rahul accused PM Modi of “playing politics over the blood of jawans”. After he came under attack, he tweeted: “I fully support surgical strikes and I have said so unequivocally. But I will not support using the Indian Army in political posters and propaganda all across the country.”

Rahul’s stand drew fire from not just the BJP, but also the Aam Aadmi Party. Arvind Kejriwal said Rahul should not have used words like “dalali”, and the times called for everyone to stand united. “I strongly condemn what Rahul Gandhi said about our jawans,” the AAP convenor said.

At a press conference, then BJP president Amit Shah said: “Some parties tried to question the surgical strikes, some even raised doubts. I condemn all those who have insulted our Indian Armed Forces.”

Cut to Wednesday. Soon after the government came out with details of Operation Sindoor, the Congress wasted no time in convening a meeting of its available CWC members, to ensure that there was no confusion over the party line. “We discussed… full support to our forces, best wishes to them, much love to them, complete support from the Congress party,” Rahul said, making a delicate distinction between the government and the armed forces in his praise – as did other parties in the course of the day.

The Congress also announced it was pausing all its political programmes, including its Samvidhan Bachao rallies, for the time being, on a suggestion by AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

A post on the ‘X’ handle of the Karnataka Congress, earlier in the day, was deleted, replaced with a post lauding the armed forces. The earlier post said: “The most powerful weapon of mankind is peace – Mahatma Gandhi”.

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said he had spoken to Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and assured them his party’s full support.

Most of the leaders did not even wait for the official briefing to congratulate the forces.

“We are extremely proud of our Indian armed forces who have stuck terror camps in Pakistan and PoK… Since the day of the Pahalgam Terror Attack, the Congress has categorically stood with the armed forces and the Government to take any decisive action against cross border terror… Our leaders have shown… in the past that national interest is supreme for us,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in an early morning social media post. “Proud of our armed forces. Jai Hind,” said Rahul soon after.

“Tamil Nadu stands with the Indian Army against terrorism. With our Army, for our nation,” Chief Minister and DMK chief M K Stalin, who has had a series of run-ins with the Modi government, posted.

Former UPA defence minister A K Antony, who has often been attacked by the Modi government, called Operation Sindoor “just the beginning”. He said he was certain that the Indian military would move decisively to target terror camps located behind positions held by the Pakistan Army along the border.

“The courage of the Indian Army is the faith of every citizen. We are all together – united against terrorism. Hail India,” AAP leader Kejriwal said.

“The Indian Army has every time protected the wombs of mothers, the wrists of sisters, and the vermillion on their foreheads… If people who foster terrorism attack our unity, integrity and sovereignty then we know how to unite… In this fight… 140 crore Indians are with the Indian Army and the Government,” the RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, facing a tough battle against the BJP in the coming Bihar polls, said.

Similar laudatory statements came from the Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, one of the foremost anti-BJP voices, and other Opposition leaders. “The CPI believes that India had little choice but to respond firmly,” general secretary D Raja said. In unusual praise of the Modi government from a CPI leader, he added: “The targeted nature of the strikes – avoiding Pakistani military assets and focusing solely on terrorist infrastructure – demonstrates a calibrated and non-escalatory approach, prioritizing accountability without inviting full-scale conflict.”

At the same time, he advocated “pursuing diplomatic avenues to prevent further escalation and preserve peace”.