BJP supporters' scepticism was in full evidence in the social media reaction to comments from general secretary Ram Madhav, who joined Modi, Rajnath and Shah in calling for action. Government sources obliquely recalled the border standoff after the December 2001 Parliament attack, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime Minister. These sources would not rule out a similar move, although the last one did not end happily for the BJP. Modi supporters were pillorying his calls for "tolerance" while his fans from outside the Sangh were upset at his failure to stand up to the then Gujarat chief minister. The "climb-down" demoralised the BJP and Sangh cadres, who largely withdrew from the 2004 general election that the BJP lost.

Source: The Telegraph September 18, 2016 20:48 UTC