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On May 28, Hindi newspaper Dainik Bhaskar came out with a report based on the party sources that a country-wide door-to-door sindoor (vermilion) distribution campaign was going to be launched on June 9, the first anniversary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third term. The objective might have been to celebrate the military achievements made during Operation Sindoor but it electrified the party rank and file across India even as they mistook this report, and thought the move would benefit the BJP in winning elections in the poll-bound states.

There was no immediate denial of the report. It took more than 48 hours for the BJP to suddenly declare that it was “fake news”. In fact, the May 30 refutation came following massive protest from a group of women who deemed it as a blatant encroachment into the age-old Hindu tradition as sindoor can only be offered by a husband to his wife and by no other person.

The problem is that the BJP always thinks in election mode – even if there does not exist any such scope. At times, it has had to pay a heavy price for displaying this immaturity. 

Assembly election are scheduled in October-November this year for Bihar and in March-April, 2026, for West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. However, the party is going at a breakneck speed to cash in on the post-Operation Sindoor sentiment. It has happened several times in the past that the BJP’s poll campaign reached its peak much ahead of the election........

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