With nationalistic fervour, national sentiment and patriotism running high after the Balakot strike which showcased Modi’s iron hand and steely resolve in dealing with terrorism and those who harbour terrorism, the nation is backing Modi to win a second term and steer the country’s ship in the right direction.

Pakistan supported terrorism has bled our country since independence. Our soft and compromising postures in the past have only strengthened the hands of terrorists and their supporters. The defence forces had their hands tied in the past because of weak, indecisive and placating nature of previous governments which resulted in a policy paralysis and a lack of coherent policy being formulated against terrorism.

The Pulwama attack on our armed forces had the whole nation seething with anger and all eyes were on the Prime Minister. The terrorists and their harbingers thought that to assuage the flared tempers, Modi would target a couple of terrorist camps in POK. But Modi had other ideas and this time our forces struck not in POK but deep in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province hitting a terrorist training camp in Balakot.

This was unprecedented and unparalleled military strike which categorically stated to the enemy, our zero tolerance towards terrorists and their supporters.

It also highlighted the quick and immaculate decision-making of our political leadership and their ability to take hard decisions in a moment of reckoning. With this incisive air strike, Modi demonstrated to his countrymen and women and the world at large that his deeds matched his words.

It also sent a strong message to our hostile neighbour that no territory of theirs was safe and out-of-bounds when it came to war against terrorism and securing our country.

Modi’s decisiveness and deliverance in keeping the nation’s interest paramount have instilled confidence amongst the masses that the country is in safe hands and at no cost will the country’s borders be compromised as was done after independence.

If Bharat exists, Bharatiyata exists. All other factors are secondary and subservient before the nation’s interest. Not only Pakistan, but even big bully China got a taste of Modi’s steely resolve when it tried an incursion into Bharatiya territory in the eastern sector thinking that Bharat would cave in like it did post independence.

But the Doklam standoff where Bharat under the leadership of Modi did not budge an inch for two and half months in the face of Chinese military and diplomatic posturing and muscle flexing demonstrated the tough decision-making and the spunk of the Government. Ultimately, the Chinese had to retract which was a political and a diplomatic victory for Modi.

Our country is saddled with 2 hostile neighbours who have nefarious designs and are hand in glove with each other in attacking our sovereignty and integrity. The nation has to make a choice as to who can safeguard the interests of our nation and protect and secure our borders in the wake of belligerent and hostile neighbours.

Is it the current dispensation under the stewardship of Modi which has withstood the test of time and adversity or an opposition which has many faces but no direction.

That opposition includes the likes of Abdullah-s and Mufti-s who speak in the language which is music to the ears of our enemies. They enjoy all the freebies of the Bharat and yet espouse with the cause of the terrorists and those who are involved in anti-national activities like the Hurriyat.

They unabashedly talk of a separate PM for J&K and are willing to mortgage the country’s interest at the drop of a hat. Their memory goes for a toss when they are asked about the slaughter and mass exodus of Kashmiri pandits which was the biggest ethnic cleansing ever witnessed, to which our main national party was a mute spectator.

On the eastern front, is another opposition leader who is so focused on spewing venom on Modi that she and her spokespersons have thrown all norms to the winds. Her flip-flop on the Bangladeshi immigrants is well-known and shows her fickle mindedness. She is championing the cause of Bangladeshi immigrants for her narrow partisan interests even though they are a threat to national security.

The same Mamta was seen agitating in parliament in 2005 against these illegal immigrants. Mamta opposed the Centre’s National Registry of Citizens (NRC) saying that it will lead to Civil war and bloodbath which was a complete somersault on her earlier stand in 2005 when she had said that immigration in West Bengal had become a disaster.

The SP-BSP alliance is a marriage of convenience to take on Modi even though they have been fighting with each other all their lives. What good will they do for the country is anybody’s guess.

In the south, KCR after his victory in Telangana tried to cobble up an alliance of all regional parties but could not get Mamta and the Congress on the same platform. Naidu has been a political turncoat and an opportunist who enjoyed 4 years with NDA only to switch sides to the UPA even though TDP and Congress are bitter enemies in Andhra. When he will switch sides again, no one knows but the credibility of such politicians is severely dented in the eyes of the electorate.

To put things in perspective, all regional players mentioned above, coming from across the length and breadth of the country, irrespective of their regional limitations and ideological differences are jostling and jigging with each other to lay their hands on the seat of power at the Centre.

Ironically, the one factor or individual who is holding them together or seeming to hold them together, at least momentarily (Modi), is most likely to bring about their nemesis at the hustings in the summer of 2019.

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