By sending a clear and categorical message on Operation Sindoor and the road ahead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation Monday night – two days after the ceasefire announcement in the India-Pakistan conflict – has also set the tone for the party's outreach across the nation on the issue. As part of it, the BJP will hold Tiranga Yatras for 11 days starting Tuesday across the country. Earlier in the day, the party held its first press conference on India’s strikes against Pakistan, underlining how these had achieved the desired objective. A meeting of top BJP leaders held Sunday night at party chief J P Nadda’s residence, and including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah, is believed to have decided the party’s approach on the issue. Sources said the brief was to underline the gains made by the armed forces without a note of triumphalism and build on the party’s plank of standing for a "strong, secure" nationalism. With the ceasefire holding, PM Modi himself took the lead, party sources said. “Multiple rounds of discussions were held at the top level to go ahead with outreach programmes. The leadership also took into view the feedback from state units,” said a party source. On Sunday, the Ministry of External Affairs separately held detailed briefings for the media. One issue that came up within the BJP was how to address statements by US President Donald Trump on the ceasefire, and remarks by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that India and Pakistan had agreed to start talks "on a broad set of issues at a neutral site". This had also drawn a response from the Opposition, which asked the government to clarify this suggestion of a "US role”. Modi’s message in his speech that any talks with Pakistan would only be on terror and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir was seen as a clear answer to that criticism. Some BJP leaders said that after the ceasefire announcement, they were waiting for clear-cut details on how to take "political ownership" of the Operation, including explaining the ceasefire and its aftermath. "In fact, some Opposition leaders were better at articulating our position," said one. However, sources said, the fact that drone attacks continued Saturday evening delayed an official briefing. “We decided to wait for the first night of calm and that came Sunday," said a source. Speaking to The Indian Express, senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad denied there was any delay or confusion in communication. “The Armed Forces are briefing on a daily basis – not once, but twice, thrice a day sometimes. The Foreign Secretary is talking. The BJP’s stand is the government’s stand. It is a government led by the Prime Minister. We are all in sync with that. Our Armed Forces and the MEA have done a great job in articulating India’s position with a great degree of finesse and conviction,” he said. At the Sunday meeting, sources said, there was also a suggestion that the official briefings by the Army and the External Affairs Ministry could be more “elaborate”. On Monday, Director General of Air Operations Air Marshal A K Bharti, Director General of Military Operations Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai and Director General of Naval Operations Vice Admiral A N Pramod held a media briefing, where they took questions as well. At the BJP’s first media briefing since Operation Sindoor began, national spokesperson Sambit Patra asserted Monday that PM Modi had fulfilled his promise of inflicting on terrorists behind the Pahalgam attack “a punishment beyond their imagination” and “razing to the ground their safe havens”. Pakistan “lost nine terror sites, 11 air bases, over 100 terrorists, 50 soldiers and its prestige”, with Operation Sindoor meeting 100 per cent of its targets, Patra said. There was also a “non-military” component, he said, talking about the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty. It would impact around 90 per cent of Pakistan’s agricultural sector, leaving its GDP “fragile”, he said. As part of the Tiranga Yatra, from May 13 to 23, the BJP will hold nation-wide processions where the Tricolour would be carried by participants, including prominent personalities from different strata of life. The campaign would convey “PM Modi’s resolve and the determination as well as the valour of the Armed Forces”, the party said.
