Pulwama attack puts Modi in a strong position ahead of Lok Sabha election 2019

New Delhi, Feb 16: For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the political challenge at home was turning out to be stiffer in recent months.

Electoral defeats in three states in the Hindi heartland in December, along with some alarming revelations on employment and the growing solidarity among the Opposition ranks even in a loose fashion certainly were not giving the prime minister and his party - BJP - an easy slip.

For Modi's supporters though these challenges are too weak to dislodge him for power in the upcoming general election but for a politician, a win is only a win when he wins it.

As a prime minister who is facing the anti-incumbency challenge, the confidence was understandably modest compared to the pre-2014 scenario.

Against this background, a dastardly attack happened on a convoy of jawans in the Pulwama district of the disturbed state of Jammu and Kashmir. Over 40 CRPF personnel were martyred after an explosive-laden vehicle was rammed into their bus by a suicide bomber.

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the deadly attack. The country was furious and sought an instant revenge and Prime Minister Modi said the culprits will not be spared and the Indian Army has been given full freedom to decide on the next steps.

No matter how Modi's post-Pulwama policy works, his position has become stronger in domestic politics

For those who think that Modi is playing the gallery and he needs to think out something more substantial and faster to survive the electoral challenge, they are actually taking a wrong route.

The prime minister now finds himself at a stronger position and if one even takes the freedom to make a prediction: the post-Pulwama position of Modi will seem tougher for his opponents to beat, no matter how big a stage they choose to bring up their Mahagathbandhan.

The JeM attack has done Modi a favour. The BJP strongman can now afford to rekindle the passion which is attached with irreplaceable political commodities like nationalism or even the hyper version of it as well as that of national security.

These are issues that no Opposition can afford to disagree over with the government.

We have already seen Congress president Rahul Gandhi wasted no time to throw the Opposition's weight behind the government on the Pulwama disaster.

There is very little the other Opposition parties can do on this sensitive issue either since it is related to the country's sovereignty and security. For Modi, this relief is no less assuring.

When a nation comes under attack, it's generally the rulers who prevail

Also, it is an unwritten law of sort that the rulers of the day gain the trust of the people when the nation comes under attack.

We have seen how Indira Gandhi won in 1971; Atal Behari Vajpayee won in 1999 and even the tainted UPA led by the Congress came back to power just months after the devastating terror attack in Mumbai in 2008.

It is unlikely that the scrambled and jumbled anti-Modi front will gain when the idea of the nation's insecurity is strong.

What will be Modi's Pakistan or China policies post-Pulwama is for time to tell but he will certainly be the biggest beneficiary if India chooses to have a single and decisive leadership to lead it over the next five years.

The regional satraps aspiring to topple Modi might not seem too capable of catering to the passionate nationalism which will be ruling for some time now.