Andhra or America, ‘Sympathy’ works well in politics

Among many other factors, Sympathy plays an important role in politics. There have been many instances in history when Sympathy turned out to be the deciding factor in the outcome of election results. Whether it is Andhra Pradesh or United States of America, politicians often benefit when Sympathy works out well in the run-up to elections.

Andhra Pradesh politics serve as a testament to this fact because in 2019 YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the then opposition leader, gained Sympathy after he was attacked with a small knife in an airport before the elections. Though the opposition claimed it as ‘Kodi Katthi’ drama, Jagan ultimately secured power in a historic manner as his party won 151 seats. Political analysts opined that Jagan won majorly due to sympathy factor beyond other factors.

Sympathy played its part even in this year’s elections in AP as Chandrababu Naidu’s arrest turned out be one of the reasons for his tremendous comeback in the polls.

Now, the same is likely to be the case with Donald Trump in the upcoming USA presidential elections. On Sunday, Trump survived a gunshot attack during his election campaign in Pennsylvania. This shocking incident ahead of the much awaited elections triggered a wave of sympathy for Trump. There is a drastic turnaround of crowds for Trump’s meetings after the incident. Huge number of supporters are attending his campaigns and also ample support is pouring from online platforms as well.

Even many leaders from Trump’s Republican party, who initially opposed his candidature, are now rallying behind his campaign all of a sudden after the incident. Nearly 30 percent of Republicans didn’t come out to support Trump until last week. But, they are now standing in support to make him the next US president.

Besides this vocal support, Trump is getting immense financial assistance through donations after the attack. Billionaire Elon Musk, who maintained equidistant from both Trump and Biden, has changed his stance after the shooting took place on Sunday. He condemned the attack and made up his mind to come in support for Trump. He announced a monthly donation of 376 Crores ($ 49M) till the elections are held later this year. Many others are likely to join Musk and offer donations for Trump.

All this remarkable turnaround in a matter of few days is due to the sympathy factor which is likely to have a final say in the upcoming elections in USA.