There is a popular saying in Indian politics, which says any mainstream chief ministerial candidate worthy politician who goes to jail will have an elevated chance of becoming the chief minister in the very next term. This was earlier proven in the case of Jagan Mohan Reddy and Revanth Reddy.
However, coming to more relevant and latest developments, it could be observed that Chandrababu Naidu and Kejriwal were arrested in close vicinity. However, the series of events that followed these arrests are a case study in itself.
Babu was arrested and released in a fabricated skill scam case by the Jagan government, some six months before the election. The intention was to absolutely destroy the morale of TDP cadres and hit on the main support system of Chandrababu.
However, this plan backfired horrifying as Chandrababu led the NDA alliance to remarkable 93% strike rate victory in the Andhra Pradesh election. His arrest was outrightly rejected by the people of Andhra Pradesh and further propelled them to walk behind the senior statesmen.
The arrest of Chandra Babu proved to be hugely detrimental and disastrous for Jagan Reddy as he himself could not get opposition leader status in the immediate next election.
Then, if we move to the arrest and release of Arvind Kejriwal, the electoral outcome is completely different. Coincidentally, even Kejriwal was arrested and released in the Delhi liquor scam case some six months before the assembly elections.
Kejriwal also hoped that this arrest and release before the election would gain him sympathy and propel him to the chief minister chair again. This was the main moto carried by AAP during the election campaign.
However, the results that came out today are making for a horrifying viewing for Kejriwal himself, and also his AAP supporters. AAP did not end up losing the election by substantial margin, but Kejriwal himself ended up losing from the New Delhi assembly constituency.
In the case of Chandrababu, the public mandate was so very clear that they wanted to see him as the chief minister again in the immediate next election after his arrest and release. In fact, the public gave him a 93% positive mandate, which is overwhelming in every way.
But in the case of Kejriwal, the Delhi liquor scam appears to have had a far more detrimental effect on his political career. This is the only logical reason behind his own defeat in the assembly election this year. Let Loan, the sympathy factor propelling AAP to government. The sentiment was so very against Kejriwal that he himself ended up losing the assembly election.
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