West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee was right when she said on Thursday replying to the Prime Minister’s vicious attacks against her and her government that Narendra Modi was making use of the Operation Sindoor to achieve cheap political gains for the BJP in the coming assembly polls in the state in early 2026. This was the first such unambiguous attack against the partisan politics of the Prime Minister who has been trying to convert the success of the Indian army against Pakistan through Operation Sindoor into political gains for the BJP through his election oriented speeches since May 10 when the India-Pakistan truce took place.
In the last twenty days, since May 10, the opposition parties extended in full their cooperation to the union government led by Narendra Modi and even took part in the all party Parliamentary delegations sent by the Prime Minister to the foreign countries to explain the Indian position. The PM talked of the need for national unity at this hour, every party responded. Instead of reciprocating that gesture, the Prime Minister, the leader of the 142 crore people of India used his public meetings in the last two weeks to denigrate the opposition and involving the Operation Sindoor with the BJP’s other operation like Operation Bengal.
Just imagine, in the public meeting held at Alipurduar in West Bengal on Thursday afternoon, the state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar told the rally in the presence of the Prime Minister that like Operation Sindoor , Operation Bengal would be organized to throw out the TMC government in the Bay of Bengal waters. The BJP boss has every right to talk about throwing out the TMC government in a political rally, but he was mixing Operation Sindoor the programme of united India with the partisan objective of the BJP in Bengal. That too in the presence of Narendra Modi, the so called symbol of national unity.
The opposition leaders must have realized by now that the Prime Minister is playing his political game by saying that Operation Sindoor is on pause and any time, it could commence again. This is a military strategy and not to be announced in public rallies. The PM wants this war fever to continue in the country so that the BJP can have political capital in the coming elections in Bihar followed by the polls in other states Bengal, Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. This is amply clear from the way his road shows have been organized in Bihar and Gujarat in the recent days.
Mamata was correct when she replied to the Prime Minister two hours after his public meeting on Thursday “What Modiji said today, we are not only shocked but also very sad to hear the voice of the prime minister when all the opposition (leaders) are representing the country to the world, they are taking the bold decision to protect the country’s interest, national interest. We will protect the country because it is our motherland. But is it the time for the prime minister of the country, Narendra Modi, and in his presence, his minister, to say that they will do Operation Bengal, like Operation Sindoor? I challenge them. If they have guts, go into elections tomorrow, we are ready and Bengal is ready to accept your challenge,” she said.
Such a rebuff from a senior opposition leader to the Prime Minister was needed because Narendra Modi was going the wholehog against the opposition taking advantage of the docility of the INDIA Bloc constituents in view of the present period of India-Pak tensions. The opposition has given enough leeway to the Prime Minister but he has not honoured that. It is time the opposition starts functioning normally strongly demanding the immediate convening of special session of Parliament to discuss the situation and seek explanations on many vital issues which till now remain answered.
Just as Mamata posed the question to the PM why the terrorists who carried out Pahalgam massacre on April 22 have not yet been nabbed. Yet. Or why Prime Minister is silent on continuous claim of Trump and other U.S. officials that Trump used trade threat to India and Pakistan to agree to ceasefire. It was meant more to India as India was winning on May 10 morning. What did the US vice president J D Vance tell the Prime Minister on May 9? Did he convey the threat given by Trump? The US trade department said the same thing in court. They must have record. PM has to categorically rebut that by coming out with his own statement. Why is he keeping silent and let others speak?
These are the issues to be put to the government now.. Since the PM has crossed lakshmanrekha on keeping the national unity including the opposition parties, the India Bloc has no moral responsibility now to play by the rules set by the Prime Minister. Let them follow Mamata. She has set the agenda. It is time, the India Bloc parties discuss and start behaving as the real opposition. Enough is enough. (IPA Service)