‘Kejriwal target of swift-boating in Delhi’
New Delhi: The 2004 US presidential election unfolded in the long shadow of the 9/11 attacks, becoming a high-stakes referendum on leadership in a transformed global order.
The incumbent, George W. Bush, faced criticism over the invasion of Iraq, launched on the claim that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction — weapons that were never found. His Democratic challenger, John Kerry, was an experienced legislator and a decorated Vietnam War veteran. Kerry had served as commander of a U.S. Navy Swift boat in Vietnam’s riverine operations and had received multiple gallantry medals. The contrast with Bush — whose Vietnam-era National Guard service had long drawn scrutiny — was politically stark.
As the race tightened, a group calling itself Swift Boat Veterans for Truth launched a campaign challenging Kerry’s military record. Through television advertisements, press conferences, talk radio and a book titled Unfit for Command, the group cast doubt on his wartime service and medals. The attacks, amplified by partisan media and emerging online platforms, forced Kerry to spend crucial weeks defending his record rather than advancing his policy agenda.
Though Bush ultimately won re-election by a narrow margin, the episode left behind a new political term: “swift-boating” — the tactic of attacking an opponent’s strongest credential through sustained, often controversial or unverified claims, in order to erode public trust.
Two decades later, critics of the Indian government argue that a similar strategy has been deployed against Arvind Kejriwal. Kejriwal built his public persona around anti-corruption activism.
Supporters contend that the so-called Delhi excise policy case — widely referred to as the “Delhi Liquor Scam” in political discourse — represents an effort to politically neutralize him and destabilize his party.
They argue that by targeting senior AAP leaders through investigations and arrests, the objective was to weaken the party’s leadership structure ahead of elections.
(The writer is the state president of Aam Aadmi Party’s Goa unit)
