Indian opposition parties attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘monumental failure’ in Kashmir

Pollsters say opposition parties may be making a mistake by questioning Modi on national security instead of focusing on more basic issues, such as a shortage of jobs and farmers’ distress. Voters concerned about those issues ousted Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in three state elections late last year.

“The opposition is coordinating this and talking to each other every day,” said Derek O’Brien, a lawmaker from the West Bengal-based All India Trinamool Congress, the third-largest opposition party in the lower house of parliament.

“The strategy is to first keep exposing them and bringing out the fact that they are trying to appropriate the armed forces. And two, we show that this is being done purely for election purposes.”

O’Brien was referring to Modi speaking at a rally with the pictures of the paramilitary police killed in the bombing in the background, as well as a BJP leader in Delhi attending a public event in army fatigues. The BJP denies the accusations that it’s misusing the armed forces for political benefit.