While a section of the BJP sees a tough electoral battle in Delhi, Punjab and other states as Prime Minister Narendra Modi,  aspiring for a  third term ,has taken on the Congress and the regional parties simultaneously. Kejriwal’s arrest has sent out a message that this Lok Sabha election is not for power but for their own survival.

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West Bengal chief minister Mmata Banerjee, the NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray have come out strongly against the ED’s action while the Delhi Congress leaders are seen alongside protesting AAP workers in the national capital.

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If the Bahujan Samaj Party led by Mayavati inactive in Uttar Pradesh and outside the state, has been intimidated into silence after threats to use government agencies against her, it has split the Shiv Sena and the NCP in Maharashtra and done much the same to the Trinamool Congress leaders and the Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family in Bihar. It has also targeted the JMM leader and former chief minister of Jharkhand,  Hemant Soren.

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The BJP’s intimidatory tactics maybe because of the realisation in saffron upper ranks that the Modi magic can only go so far, and is unlikely to work in Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and not as easy as it was thought in parts of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

With the emergence of AAP, the contest in cities and areas like the National Capital had become a triangular fight which used to help the BJP during Parliamentary polls due to the persona of Modi nationally and internationally. It also helped Kejriwal in the local polls, especially the Assembly polls and now even the MCD.

The attempts to marginalise Kejriwal however could lead to the revival of the Congress, which has fallen on bad days in the national capital for the past decade. Politics does not work in a vacuum and there is no other political force that could offer resistance if Kejriwal is not on the scene.

Like Modi, Kejriwal too is a leader who is an autocrat and does not delegate powers to anyone. In AAP, the first 100 places are occupied by Kejriwal and then only the rest, insiders said.  Similarly, in the BJP, where Modi has no rival or equal, Amit Shah importance stems from the fact that he is Modi’s trusted eyes and ears, and works in his leader’s best interest.

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Meanwhile, in his first reaction after being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the liquor policy case, Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said that “My life is dedicated to the country, irrespective of whether it is inside jail or outside," Kejriwal said while being brought to Rouse Avenue Court for his remand hearing.

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Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar lashed out at the AAP leader and the Opposition. He said that the Opposition’s reaction to Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest is "absolutely mystifying and extremely ironic".

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"Despite going to court and the court not upholding his plea to let him out of this investigation, Arvind Kejriwal has ignored the ED's notice to appear before it, to investigate his alcohol bribery corruption scam; and now,  to act as if it’s a shock or surprise that the process of an investigation into a corruption scam should not end up with his arrest when he is deliberately opposing the investigation," Chandrashekhar said.