CHANGING PARADIGM IN POLITICAL CONSULTANCY
Recently I was in #hyderabad for a week interacting with professionals, a few organizations and a few people who were posing as clients from #political domain who have never worked themselves but seem to be well connected within political circles. Most of these had either worked directly or indirectly in the political domain mainly elections in some state in past few years.
Myself, having spent 18-years in political domain; training & assisting people and organizations, some of these interactions were eye-openers of some sort.
Presenting some interesting insights of these discussions as well as some hardcore truths that may hit you in face someday –
- Consultants are not magicians when it comes to results, they are normal human beings
- Whether it is Elections or Constituency Management, one needs sufficient time to do ground work in an organic manner
- Paying money does not guarantee success, it is achieved by consistent hard work and persistence
- Election Management or any other vertical within Politics, requires continuous updation by practitioners as well as consultants/strategists
- Many a times, one may come across people who tend to impress upon you with their knowledge or understanding but in reality may be far away from truth. You have to give them a patient hearing and deal with them
- Most common misconception –
- Money can resolve most of the issues in political management
- Even timelines can be shortened
- All political consultants or strategists are minting money
- Having one or two stints with any political consultant / organization is sufficient to kick start one’s own consultancy
7. Political Consultancy is very challenging as in most circumstances when the leader or the party has exhausted his/her options turn to consultants for miracles
8. Political Consultancy is all about Mission, Vision, Objectives, Goals, Strategy, HRM, Budgeting, Intelligence, Research, Analysis and Strategic Decision Management.
9. Political Consultancy is still involving as a profession in India like Functional Politics. There’s a long way to go before standardization happens.
10. Looking at the recent state assembly elections, it has been noticed that –
- Education has gained importance in Politics
- Richer candidates are preferred for party tickets
- Candidates are willing to associate with consultants not just for elections but also for long term constituency management
- There is no short cut to win elections
- Development and accessibility is the key to success.