Two intimate video clips featuring Gujarat’s Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti leader Hardik Patel with a woman, and holding a drink in his hand, are being widely shared on social media this week. The emergence of the videos in the middle of a heated election campaign raises questions about privacy, public image, defamation, and political morality. Patel has called it a sign of dirty politics, an invasion of his privacy, and “character assassination”.
Should sex tapes of politicians be part of political discourse and can they influence election outcomes in India?
Shekhar Gupta
Editor-in-Chief, ThePrint
“We Indians may be hypocrites about gender, sexuality, relationships, but we aren’t judgemental about sex between consenting adults, even if one of them is a public figure.”
Jignesh Mevani
Lawyer and Dalit leader, Gujarat
“They first tried to do ‘Ram vs Haj’ in their posters, and are now peeping into people’s bedrooms. This CD drama has damaged the BJP; people can now see how low the party can go in frustration.”
Sanjay Hegde
Senior advocate, Supreme Court
“Who fornicates with whom, is entirely a matter for the parties concerned and their spouses, if any. An active sex life, with free consent, does not detract from the image of a virile, youth leader”.
Yashwant Deshmukh
Psephologist
“Hardik Patel having or not having sex with anyone has nothing to do with the debate on Patidar reservation.”
Ashwani Kumar
Poet, author, and professor at TISS, Mumbai
“In the ultra-transparent world of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, the Indian public has increasingly become more Americanised, enjoying voyeuristic pleasures from the sexual (mis)conduct of politicians.”