Several candidates with stint in jail contesting polls

New Delhi : From AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal to his long-time loyalist Manish Sisodia, riots accused Tahir Hussain and Shifa-ur Rehman, several candidates in fray for Delhi Assembly polls have been to jail in connection with different cases, including corruption and riots. According to political experts, candidates having been to jail at some point, does not necessarily affect their popularity as politicians.

In some cases, if a politician does benefit in terms of public sympathy by being jailed, it does not necessarily translate into votes. Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested ahead of Lok Sabha polls last year in connection with a money laundering case related to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. While he got a brief bail to campaign for Lok Sabha polls, he was granted an interim bail in the case in September last year with several conditions, including not accessing the CM office.

Two days later, he resigned as chief minister, saying he will only hold the post when the public declares him honest. Party leader Atishi was then sworn in for the post, becoming Delhi's third woman chief minister. Kejriwal has been maintaining during his Assembly poll campaign that he was arrested as the BJP wanted to project him as a "chor" (thief) but even his "fiercest enemy" believes he is not corrupt. BJP, however, has been attacking him for wearing his stint in jail as a “badge of honour”.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said at a public meeting, “He is going around and proudly telling people about his stint in jail like he was jailed during the freedom struggle movement. He went to jail in connection with a liquor case, corruption case, he should be ashamed”.

According to Abhishek Giri, a political science professor at Delhi University, going to jail does not necessarily affect the election outcomes of candidates. “Many politicians have some or the other criminal cases against them but not all of them have an impact on their electoral careers. In case of Arvind Kejriwal, he was seen as an anti-corruption crusader, so being jailed in a corruption case was definitely seen as a dent in his political image.

“However, I don't think so the fact that he was jailed will take precedence over the free water and electricity and other work done by AAP, when Delhiites vote in the upcoming elections,” he told PTI. Azhar Mehboob, a political science scholar at Jamia Millia Islamia, said whatever image people make of a politician when he or she is jailed, is not always linked to voting patterns. “Irrespective of any political party, the way people perceive political candidates going to jail has been somewhat similar in the past. Some politicians gain sympathy while some outrage but votes are polled mostly on the basis of other factors,” he said.

Manish Sisodia, former deputy chief minister, and AAP leader Sanjay Singh were also arrested in the case. Sisodia was granted bail in August last year after spending 17 months in jail and Singh was released on bail in April. Satyendar Jain, who was among the first AAP leaders to be arrested in different cases, recently said despite the party's leadership being jailed in "false cases," the BJP has been unable to dent its image.