Saffron seeks Mumbai mileage

NEW DELHI: The fight against terrorists in Mumbai has given way to a political battle, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trying to milk it for electoral gains. The BJP, till recently smarting under criticism for the emergence of alleged Hindu terrorist outfits, sees the Mumbai terror attacks as a godsend.

These attacks have taken attention away from the Malegaon blast accused, put the focus back on foreign-based jehadi terror and given the BJP a chance to revive its charge of the Congress-led UPA government being soft on terror.

“It will make our charge stick,” a BJP leader said with satisfaction when asked about the political impact of the Mumbai attack. BJP leaders feel the attack has “suddenly lifted” their election campaign. The party used the opportunity to blame the government for “being occupied with trivia” — investigating Hindu organisations’ involvement in acts of terror — and ignoring the larger problem of jehadi terror.

The party has discounted the impact of attempts by the government to project the final annihilation of terrorists as a victory, the way the BJP did after the Kargil war — another instance of a major intelligence failure.

With a better organised party machinery and backing of the Sangh Parivar, the BJP hopes to win the propaganda war on the issue. It has already splashed advertisements targeting the Congress over the rising incidence of terrorism.