In a shocking statement, Karnataka BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa Wednesday said the IAF strikes on terror camps in Pakistan has created a wave in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will help the party win over 22 of 28 seats in the state in the coming Lok Sabha polls.

“The atmosphere….day by day the wind is increasingly blowing in favour of BJP. Yesterday’s action of destroying terror hideouts by entering inside Pakistan has resulted in a pro-Modi wave in the country, the results of which can be seen in coming Lok Sabha polls,” Yeddyurappa said.

Speaking to reporters in Chitradurga, he said: “It has enthused youths; all this will help us in winning more than 22 Lok Sabha seats (in Karnataka).”

The state BJP chief’s remarks come a day after India carried out “non-military pre-emptive” airstrikes targeting the JeM training camp in Balakot in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, about 80-km from the Line of Control (LoC) early Tuesday, killing a “very large number” of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders.

In a 21-minute offensive, 12 Mirage 2000 jets carried out the strike at around 3.30 am and dropped 1000 Kg bombs on terror camps across LoC, completely destroying it and killing over 300 terrorists.

India’s action comes close on the heels of the Pulwama terror attack in which over 44 CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on February 14 in one of the deadliest terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber blew up an explosive-laden vehicle near their bus in Pulwama district.

Currently, BJP holds 16 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, Congress 10 and JD(S) 2.

The ruling alliance Congress and JD(S), who have decided to contest the Lok Sabha polls together have begun discussions about seat sharing. Sharing of seats is expected to be a litmus test for both parties with JD(S) demanding for 10-12 seats, while Congress has maintained that seat sharing will be based on merit.

Union Minister Arun Jaitley had earlier slammed the Opposition for claiming that the BJP government was politicising the situation.

(With PTI inputs)