As the political battle over the Indian army’s strikes across the Line of Control gathers momentum, the discussion has now acquired a fresh twist.

A tweet by former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, which went unnoticed by most Opposition parties even 24 hours after it appeared on Tuesday, has the potential to provide fresh ammunition to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s political rivals to target the Modi government.

Read the last but one para. I don't think TOI realised they had a scoop on their hands on 11/06/16 https://t.co/oT3pae7Uxw via @timesofindia — Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) October 4, 2016

Abdullah’s tweet tagged a short, seemingly inconsequential news item published in The Times of India on June 12 headlined “Rajnath for CM chorus grows in UP BJP”. The correspondent quotes an unidentified BJP leader who disclosed that the Modi government was planning a “major internal security operation” in the “near future” whose purpose was to give credit for this exercise to Home Minister Rajnath Singh to boost his standing ahead of the 2017 polls.

The news report appeared well before the Uri strikes took place on September 18. The BJP did not deny the news item.

The BJP is bound to dismiss the report in the changed circumstances but developments over the past few months suggest that there has been a planned and deliberate move to give greater visibility to Rajnath Singh.

Though he was initially marginalised in the Modi government, Singh has gradually emerged as its chief trouble shooter and point person. He has been at the forefront during the recent violence in Kashmir and after the government ordered the army to conduct surgical strikes across the LoC in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

Increased visibility

Admittedly, as home minister, Singh is expected to monitor and oversee the situation in Kashmir but his sudden bout of activity is a far cry from his earlier low-key avatar and has not gone unnoticed. Singh was the “go-to” man when violence erupted in the Kashmir Valley following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. He has since made several trips to the volatile state to review the law and order situation, has addressed a joint press conference with chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and led an all-party delegation to talk to all the stakeholders concerned.

Singh has been equally visible after the Uri terror attack and the army’s surgical strikes across the LOC. He presided over an all-party meeting for a briefing on the operation to ensure that the political class presented a united front. The Home Minister also spoke to the chief ministers of the border states about the strikes and has followed it up with a meeting with them in Jaisalmer on October 7 and 8. He will discuss the security situation in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Punjab after the surgical strikes. In addition, Singh has been busy in a flurry of meetings with security agencies over the past several days to keep tabs on the possible fall-out of the army action. In fact, Singh is seen to be more active and visible than defence minister Manohar Parrikar and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj though their ministries have a direct role in the post Uri operation.

All this comes at a time when there is near-unanimity in the BJP that the party should project Rajnath Singh as its chief ministerial candidate in next year’s Uttar Pradesh elections. BJP leaders privately maintain that Singh is their best bet as he is the only party leader who has the stature and the experience to take on the chief ministerial faces of the other political parties like the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress. On the flip side, Singh has not been able to deliver a victory for the party in Uttar Pradesh under his stewardship.

So far, it appears the BJP is not likely to project a chief ministerial candidate in the run-up to the Uttar Pradesh elections as it does not have a more suitable person than Rajnath Singh. There is also talk that though Singh does not wish to move to Lucknow, Modi and BJP president Amit Shah may present him with a fait accompli if the party is in a position to form the next government in Uttar Pradesh. Shah was said to be keen on projecting firebrand Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath as the party’s face in poll-bound UP but this was nixed by Singh and his supporters who fear the rise of another strong Thakur leader in the state. According to the buzz in the BJP, Singh may be left with little choice in the matter if Adityanath’s name is suggested as a possible alternative in case he chooses not to accept the job.