Important LOC Management Lessons from 2017 Elections
LOC Management Lessons from Assembly Elections 2017
By:
Vijay Sardana
Author did similar exercises after Delhi election
and Bihar Elections and expressed the reasons for defeat of BJP in Delhi and
Bihar. There was very good response from the readers.
Let me make another attempt to understand 2017
assembly elections because these elections will change the course of political discourse
forever.
The same reasons were visible for good, not so good
and bad performance of BJP in these elections in different states.
Dominant factor influenced
the results in Assembly elections 2017 were:
Ø Leadership: Leadership is visible side of
the campaign
Ø Organization: Organization is hidden frame holding the campaign and expands to new
areas
Ø Communication: Communication helps as binding force between organization and community
In earlier elections, there were many more factors, which you may see
from my blogs:
For Delhi Analysis, you may click here:
For Bihar Analysis, you may click here:
Before I go to express my views about UP state
where BJP got unprecedented win, it is important to understand why it was not able
to do same thing in Punjab, Goa and Manipur.
Who are the voters?
Youth of India is
connected to internet and social media. His or her source of information is not
just political speeches and political leaders but wide range of influencers and
most outside their own territory. They have better exposure and reach than was
years ago.
Local developments,
national developments and even global developments do influence the thinking of
voters now-a-days. It is very difficult now for any political leader to convey
the message in one speech and assume that now voters are convinced and they
will vote for the leaders after the speech.
Women voters are
very powerful and very intelligent voters. They are at the receiving end all the
poor development and law and order. They want safety and development for
dignified life. They are very careful now to whom they should vote.
Emotional connect like
caste and religion promoted by corrupt political leaders and parties is like bad
product in an opaque packaging, how many times you want to sell the same to the
same customers?
Unfortunately,
many political leaders are so self-obsessed and self-centered, they forgot to
connect to the people in their speeches and we have seen the outcome. Many have
tainted image and social media is very open in talking about it, but they are
unable to listen.
Where is the Party Organizations?
Please identify the second rank of leaders and chain
of command in organization. If there is no organizations, there is no hope for
party workers. People in this world are result oriented, if they are
contributing to the party’s growth, will party recognize them? Will he get better standing in his or
her community or society?
Most of the
political parties are operating like ‘propriety firms or closely held private
limited companies’. Please think, who is the second in command in these parties
other than promotor families?
Ø Congress Party – Gandhi Family
Ø Akali Dal – Badal Family
Ø Samajwadi Party – Yadav family
Ø Bahujan Samaj Party – Ms. Mayawati
& family
Ø RJD – Mr. Lalu Yadav & family
Ø RLD – Mr. Ajit Singh and family
Ø TMC – Ms. Mamta Banerjee
Ø AIAIDAM – After Jayalaita, what is
happening
Ø DMK – Sh. Karunanidhi and family
Ø AAP – Mr. Kejriwal and his handpicked
friends
Ø TRS – Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao
Ø Telgu Desam – Mr. Chandrababu Naidu
& family
Ø National Conference – Abdulla Family
Ø NCP – Mr. Sharad Pawar & family
Ø Shiv Sena – Thakre family
Many others local
regional parties and groups.
Why BJP will continue to grow?
Do not forget, BJP
is existing on the shoulders of RSS. RSS is cadre based organization and
constantly working to expand the organizations with the help of volunteers in
all parts of India to achieve its stated objective to bring social and
political transformation. These volunteers are not dependent of party positions
for their survival. The binding force is ideology, not leadership. Look around your
will find the best managed organizations are those who are run or managed by volunteers
based on ideology, not just leadership. These can be political, social or
religious movements. These volunteers have strong influence in the communities
and local society where they live or work. There are checks and balances within RSS and
they convey their feedback from the ground to BJP leadership when and where
they must change the course of action. BJP leadership cannot afford to ignore
the inputs from RSS. This all happens away from public eye and media. This is
the strength of the organization. Have you ever seen RSS leader taking claim of
BJPs victory or their contribution in BJPs growth? Because there is no one
person who is working for the cause. They work as part of the organization and
after the activity they again go back to their respective work areas and get
busy with their life.
Unless political
parties or even business organization focus on organization building, there is
no future for them.
Visible factor i.e. leadership, helps in galvanising the
society:
Who are the leaders for various political parties
leading the campaign? What is his or her credibility in the eyes of voters?
The test is, how many of them have positive or
respectable words attached to their name in social media?
The way people were reacting to their statements of leaders on social media
was a clear message about the mood of the people in election bound states.
Unless our political leaders able to connect to people,
how they can influence. Every statement is recorded on social media used or
misused by opponents. This also exposes their ability to understand of the
leaders about the ground reality.
Unfortunately, most political party leaders were talking
the same thing in every location, most of which was not relevant to audience or
they were reading the script. Is this the way leadership should operate? This
also demoralises the party workers. This was the reason why no face was projected by BJP in UP because face may create some short comings due to local politics and in future policies and strategies. Where are the credible leaders in opposition parties which are clean, capable and committed?
Communication is the key in today’s information hungry
hyper-connected world:
History tells us, around the world good leaders
were having good oratory skills. This the benefit with BJP and RSS organization
because most of them are good orator.
BJP was led by Prime Minister himself, he could
project his role as leader who will take care of UP and communicated that BJP
rules states are better than other states. Governance, law and order,
corruption was key message. The role of central government was also highlighted
for the support local development. On the other hand, Ruling party leaders of
the state those who were seeking re-election were not able to defend why
development, law and order and corruption was not controlled when they were in power.
There was no credibility in ruling parties message.
Even Goa result also highlights the same. Now, political parties must perform
if they want re-election.
Most political party messed up in communication,
because political party spokesperson soon becomes known face in society and
these family oriented political party don’t want to give that space to any
outsiders and they don’t have in-house competency. Unfortunately, most political parties even don’t
have official spokespersons who can talk to media regularly and present their
point of view effectively.
This is one of the reason they do not get good
response from stakeholders in politics and in business as well. Due to lack of
communication, No one can recognize their good work. This is a strong point of
BJP they know how to capitalize the communication.
In my view, political parties and business organizations
must have very clear communication strategy to connect to masses, please note -
it is not about advertising. Please note - Connectivity is different than
publicity. For connectivity, one must spend time and efforts, for publicity one
must just spend money.
Connectivity is vital and more crucial. This requires
leadership and organization both.
These Assembly elections were crucial for all. Political
parties and business organization both can learn a lot from the outcome.
The way forward:
Focus on LOC for better growth in future and deliver
to the promises made in manifesto. Goa is one such example. Hope BJP will learn
from Goa to retain power in upcoming states where they are in power. Punjab is a classic case where friendship was more important than political gains. This is also important for BJP to remain with friend (SAD) in thin and thick as long as they are not corrupt. Tolerating a corrupt friend can cost you heavily. It is not a good politics to support corrupt friend, but convey this well in advance so that there is time to recover.
Will opposition parties re-look at their leaders' capability, their communication skills and organisational structure and succession plan. Without this homework, there is no alternate to RSS and BJP in political space in Indian politics.
Same is true for business organisations, they should review the same else will be target for takeover and of they will loose their relevance soon.
Will opposition parties re-look at their leaders' capability, their communication skills and organisational structure and succession plan. Without this homework, there is no alternate to RSS and BJP in political space in Indian politics.
Same is true for business organisations, they should review the same else will be target for takeover and of they will loose their relevance soon.
Do share your views and comments below.
Follow for updates: @vijaysardana
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