in Borgen, The Danish TV drama, about politics, has an important scene: during a debate between various contenders for the chair of prime minister, the main character, Birgit Nyborg, falls out of script. She talks about how she has struggled with the written responses devised by her spin doctors to questions about the complex challenges of the multi-ethnic society that would become Denmark. His heartfelt talk surprised many, and left his liberal party as the single largest party on polling day, when no one had imagined its opportunities before. In short, she hits what many communication professionals call the sweet spot, managing to present her complex point of view in a way that relates to the voter.
This is where every political party aims, with slogans, idioms, policy announcements, promises of free gifts, etc.
salute to congress
It’s looking for that very sweet spot that the leaders of Congress, India’s oldest partysat through a series of presentations, in full public glare this month Election Strategist Prashant Kishor, This comes after the defeat in the recent assembly elections, which prompted questions about the party’s ability to revive itself after the defeat that began with the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
it’s not the first time that Congress is looking at advisors and lateral entries; Nor is this the first time that the party would attempt to work with Mr. Kishor. He handled campaigns for the 2017 elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab, but after Mr Kishor realized that he was not given much credit for the victories in Punjab, and solely for the defeats in UP and Uttarakhand. Got separated after receiving too many defects. ,
What is new this time is not that the Congress is looking to outside talent to help, but the fact that Mr Kishor is aiming to join the party, and his strategic intervention goes far beyond campaign strategies. known as the domain. Of Party Organization: Candidate Selection. Mr Kishor has worked in this wide spectrum for the Janata Dal (U) in 2015, the Yuvajan Shramik Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) in 2019, the Aam Aadmi Party in 2020 and other parties including the DMK and Trinamool Congress. 2021. In fact, he did the same for Amarinder Singh in Punjab in 2017, but it was on behalf of the Congress leader and not the party’s behest.
a long timeline
Prashant Kishor and his then organization, Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG), exploded onto the political scene as an adjunct to Narendra Modi’s juggernaut-like campaign for the 2014 parliamentary elections, which propelled the BJP to an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha. It captured the popular imagination but has a long history of political consultation in India.
One of the earliest entries of professional spin doctors and consultations, though related to the piecemeal aspects of a party’s election campaign, began with the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. His “My Heart Beats for India” campaign in 1989, designed by Rediffusion, may have had little success, but it was the first ‘jerk’ in making the space ‘professional’. Gandhi also took on lateral talents like Sam Pitroda, but again regionally.
In the late 1990s, under the leadership of then Congress president Sitaram Kesari and his vice-president Jitendra Prasad, the party hired a public relations firm similar to today’s congresss, to indicate what was wrong and what could have been done. The report of the PR firm was leaked to the newspapers to the dismay of the then leadership of the party, causing an uproar inside. Not only did the PR firm identify the leadership, but the choice of snacks served at the briefings in the Congressional office was also investigated. that report was buried, but soon Sonia Gandhi took over as Congress President.
In fact, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it became routine for advertising agencies, media buyers and spin doctors to pitch advertising contracts to the BJP and Congress before elections. Political parties began to pay more attention to data gathering and analysis, election science and surveys. For example, GVL Narasimha Rao, who is currently a Rajya Sabha MP belonging to the BJP, started out as an election scientist.
juvenile variation
Prashant Kishor’s set of electoral services began in 2013, during the 2014 general elections, when he associated himself with the Modi campaign, and incorporated innovations such as “Chai Pe Charcha”. Tea conversation) program and hologram. Modi’s campaign was placed virtually parallel to BJP organizationIn fact.
Mr. Kishor thought he would be given an assignment after the new government was sworn in. But in a cadre-based party, now fully under the influence of Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah, who took over as BJP president after the victory, there was less room. As the story goes, with the 2014 campaign concluding, Mr. Kishor asks Mr. Shah what will happen after June, an oblique way of inquiring about his own future. Mr Shah is believed to have replied that June was followed by July. In any case, Mr. Kishor soon left the BJP. Mr Shah later joined the Association of Billion Minds (ABM) for the BJP. Sunil Kanungolu, a founding member of ABM, is currently handling the Congress strategy for Karnataka and Telangana.
Don’t Blame the Advisor
old people watch Arrival of consultants and professional strategists With fear, for fear that it erodes the ideology of a political party and undermines grassroots political work. If so, the advisor is not to blame. Political parties, apart from cadre-based parties, have become dynastic and closed systems of a few families establishing an internal oligarchy. They run as internal courts with loyalty trumping merit. While the presence of loyalists can reassure the leadership, it does not help the parties win elections.
And this is the crossroads at which political parties and outside strategists meet, to hunt for the sweet spot of electoral recognition while keeping party equations intact. And this is where we are in the electoral politics of India.