BY ABHA ANINDITA:
The phone rings with a spam number, and one would expect it to be a `kind’ bank calling to offer a credit card or a loan. But no, the automated call is from a political party asking for votes, luring the voters with all the schemes they have come up with whilst door-to-door campaigning seems to have taken a back seat now.
Switch to Youtube, and the first advertisement is a campaign song. Billboards, newspaper advertisements, inauguration sprees, resorting to influencers and youtubers for promotion are some gimmicks the poll-bound state of Meghalaya is witnessing. But are they new?
What sure is new is the entry of political consultancies in the election scenario in Meghalaya and much of these ploys can be attributed to them.
THE MODUS OPERANDI
Political consultancies take political parties and candidates as their clients. They may work on behalf of a specific political party or ideology, or they may work for clients across the political spectrum; the deal is simple: they will charge for their service, i.e., helping their clients win the elections.
Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) and Showtime are consultancies working for the two national parties, All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) and National People’s Party (NPP) that are battling for power in the hill state.
There are several other national and regional parties like the Indian National Congress (INC), United Democratic Party (UDP), Voice of the People Party (VPP) who are also in the fray for the February 27 assembly election in Meghalaya, but have stuck to old school political methodologies.
IMPACT ON ELECTIONS
With the involvement of political consultancies, elections have more or less been corporatised with the use of data and technology to target certain groups of voters. The question that arises then is will such data also guide the winning candidates’ course of action post poll?
Professor Prasenjit Biswas, Department of Philosophy, North Eastern Hill University said that the pre-election scenario cannot be differentiated from that of post-election.
Biswas said, “After the elections, somebody nurtures and cultivates a constituency from which one obtains the votes, so in the process, the needs of all the people have to be addressed.”
He added, “Now all this gets reflected in some way or the other, in the situation prior to the election, which needs to be taken into account by a politician, in order to garner the votes, therefore pre-election and post-election scenarios are logically connected.”
Toki Blah, a former bureaucrat, is of the opinion that these consultancies do no harm to the electoral process, instead they are helping the political parties put their profiles and aims and objectives out in the public, thereby exposing themselves and what they bring to the table.
Biswas, however, pointed out that campaigns are now increasingly calculated, while politics is becoming more and more professional at this moment where people can generate and analyse data, and all this is computed, nearly like AI brought into politics.
A GAME OF MONEY?
Involving political consultancies for electoral benefits also involves big money as these are professional organisations who charge hefty amounts in exchange for their services. This can only be borne by the cash-rich parties, so does that, even if indirectly, further make elections a game of money and, in some way, thus deprive the not-so-fortunate of a level playing field.
The role of money in elections has always been a controversial topic, and if it actually has an impact is something that can be debated about.
Biswas says that with the involvement of big money, it is a disadvantage to smaller parties, because they do not have the capacity to shell out that kind of money as in the case of bigger parties.
However, even with consultants coming in they can manipulate the situation, but they have a limit, but they cannot manipulate the entire mass. This should serve as a boost for the parties or politicians who know the nerve of the people, adds Biswas.
Avner Pariat, who is contesting from East Shillong for the Voice of the People Party, which is making its debut, said, “If money actually would help politicians win elections, then Hilary Clinton would have won over Trump as she has four times the money, but money cannot help in the long run.”
“You might win the elections once, but at the end people will see right through you,” he added.
Campaigns and standard procedures right before elections are seen as a ploy to influence voters.
Blah said, “The political parties are spending money by paying these consultancies, that anyway was being spent. Prior to this, it was directly purchasing votes”.
Blah added that a politician anyway tries to influence the voter, this is another gimmick to do the same.
With consultancies mapping out plans and campaigns for politicians, they also can get under the skin of the rivals. The loopholes, and weaknesses of the other side is being recognised in terms of where there is lack of work, and where the public is demanding more from the incumbent.
Biswas focused on the role being played by the consultancies in reading the behaviour of the rivals. He said, “It is very easy to locate the areas and issues, and political consultancies are becoming incrementally necessary to read the behaviour of the opponent by a particular contestant, and that’s where these are playing a major role in putting up a case for a particular candidate in getting better of the rival side.”
CONSULTANCIES VERSUS TRADITIONS
However, with the consultancies now playing a role in being a bridge between the grassroots and the politicians, are they challenging the democratic traditions of the country?
Blah disagrees. He thinks this is just all about upping the game. If it is happening everywhere else, then why not in Meghalaya?
Pariat also thinks this is not a new phenomenon. Consultancies have been in existence all over the world for a long time now, and they do their research to study the people and what exactly they want.
He jokingly added, “At least they are using money the right way instead of just directly buying voters booze, mutton and pork, this is a smarter way, I would like to believe,” he added.
Biswas, however, has a different opinion pertaining to the manipulation of voters through consultancies. He said it will not be a problem as long as the consultants are not interfering with the political process.
He added, “Their way of intervention is by finding out the right issue through which they can enter into a political arrangement, and that arrangement will be practically done by the politician himself/herself.”
Do the political tactics involved in an expert-influenced election curtail democratic procedures? Only time will tell.