Mudslinging is not a new phenomenon in world of politics since it is said to have appeared in some form or the other in electoral battle since 1828 in the US Presidential election; 2008 Senate race in North Carolina and the political race between the then incumbent President John Quincy Adams and challenger Andrew Jackson in 1828.
The practice of mudslinging, smear campaigning, or forming conspiracy by any political leader against his opponent with sole intention to defame a leader with probity in public life and/or to tarnish his image to take political mileage, however, can hardly succeed as ultimately truth prevails, sooner or later. Most of the politicians in India often use ‘mudslinging’ as the most powerful weapon or tool against their opponents.
Since times immemorial, it has been believed that, truth always triumphs and this dictum has been rightly emphasised by Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi who brought freedom for the country used to define political course to remain “without malice and in a strictly non violent manner,” but now malice is deeply rooted in politics of all shades in which mudslinging has substantially grown as a culture, breeding various connotations, namely, smear campaign, character assassination, dirty politics, negative campaign, defamation, outracing each other which are disastrous for the health of democracy. No political party seems to be an exception from such Machiavellian culture.
In the year 2000, a Congress worker of Poirashi GP of Ganjam block had filed a false affidavit against the then Deputy Speaker of Assembly Rama Chandra Panda, willfully dragging his name to an incident of a crime perpetuated by local Leftist elements, notwithstanding the soaring relationship Panda had with the local Leftists, which was used to orchestrate a political campaign in the Chhatrapur Assembly constituency against Panda.
As a result, Panda had informed the then Speaker of the Assembly not to chair Assembly proceedings till his name was cleared in the Crime Branch inquiry. It was also then whispered in the town that, some Congress leaders eventually had met the then DIG inquiring the matter at the IRE Guest House to raise a complaint against Panda on the basis of the false affidavit.
The catchphrase the "Truth always triumphs" has come true though little late. In the last week of January 2023, Panda was felicitated on completion of 50 years of his political journey from the tiny industrial town Ganjam, where he had laid country’s first and historic farmers’ movement (1970-71) against water and air pollution in which he and 400 farmers and youths were imprisoned causing visit of Parliamentary Committee headed by late MP Brahmananda Panda to the area to study the environmental problems which eventually submitted its report to the Parliament suggesting remedial measures. This impressive felicitation programme in which thousands of local people attended is understood to be a sequel to non-invitation to Panda by the local MLA earlier on the party’s foundation day held at village Kushapalli.
The success of this gathering, however, not only sent ripples to various quarters but also produced multiple side effects and one such fallout was that, the then Congress youth leader Khalli Reddy who himself participated in the ‘show of strength’ cum felicitation meeting, later called on Panda at his residence at Brahmapur in the presence of a former Councilor of Ganjam NAC Lakshmi Padhi and advocate Pramod Panda and apologised to Rama Chandra Panda for his 2000 bogus affidavit candidly confessing that he filed the same at the behest of a prominent Congress leader of Brahmapur who eventually is now in BJD. This sensitive exposure of Reddy has proved how some new breed and ambitious politicians can settle political scores against their rivals or political opponents to satisfy their political interests and can go to any extent even to defame a honest leader having probity in public life.
This writer was present during Reddy’s disclosure. In his quest for truth, the writer contacted one of the outspoken and vibrant Congress leaders of Ganjam advocate Pitabas Panda, who too expressed his regret while further attributing the incident to the invisible hand of a former Congress MLA of a neighboring district in the incident. When this writer sought reaction from former Deputy Speaker Panda he said he had already forgotten the incident and wished almighty to bless the indulgent not to repeat such act in future against any one.
There may not always be legal repercussions for mudslinging, but there can be social backfiring. If miscalculated, mudslinging often can make the mudslinger cut a sorry figure.
Now, one might ask: Shouldn't politicians or public figures, face repercussions for mudslinging? According to Joseph Comunale, it is in fact a crime to make false public accusations with knowledge that the claims are indeed false.
Such a crime can lead to libel or defamation lawsuits in the eyes of law. However, proving such a crime can be extremely difficult. i.e., it is difficult to verify that someone may have been aware that he was making a false claim and, therefore, deduce he was knowingly lying with an intent to harm.
There are a number of such incidents of political mudslinging and conspiracy, allegation and counter allegation against each other in Indian politics. Take the example of Telangana Welfare and Civil Supplies Minister, Gangula Kamalakar’s allegation against BJP State president Bandi Sanjay Kumar alleging his hand in a recent question paper leaking incident reportedly with an attempt to malign and defame the BRS Government in Telangana.
(Writer Prof Dr Panda is a correspondent of The Pioneer for Brahmapur)