PRCI Kerala set for Literary Awards

From dusty to dirty poll campaigns - anatomy of political communication

By S.Narendra

Former Information Adviser to PM, Principal Information Officer

to Government and Spokesperson

(Political communication is the oxygen of democracy like India. It can sustain political institutions of a parliamentary democracy and empower the people as its responsible participants, as demonstrated by the first generation of leaders of independent India. India became a Republic on January 26th 1950. In a formal sense, the nation embarked on a new political journey that was bound to be marked by electoral battles and power politics. The leading lights of the freedom movement, who can be regarded as the founders of the new nation had donned the role of ageing  guardians who were in a hurry to secure the hard won freedom  by ringing it with political institutions, appropriate political conventions and traditions. There were both open and covert political contests among them and honest ideological schisms. The national movement called the INC had become a political party in quest of power. This formidable monolith was showing faint signs of cracking. This process had unleashed political communication of many hues.... Read on --- the third installment)

The world’s longest written Constitution was a done deal, and India became a Republic on 26^th January 1956. Unlike the contemporary new constitution of Japan, (known as Gen. McArthur’s constitution) this document, debated with much passion and light, was a totally an Indian product. Soon after, the Constituent Assembly had converted itself into an interim Parliament and transacted some momentous legislative business. From the political communication angle, the RPA or the Representation of The People’s Act set the rules for the conduct of first elections in early 1952 and provided the platform for the functioning of the political parties and their political communication.

Another piece of most remarkable but highly controversial draft legislation was the Hindu Code Bill. This was a daring social reform attempt that touched literally a holy cow -the customary Hindu Law. Remarkably, it was spear-headed by two Brahmin leaders -Nehru and Rajaji - and a dalit Dr.B.R.Ambedkar. The heat generated by this attempt to deal with the Hindu marriage, inheritance, status of women raised as storm of protest from inside, led by the president of the  Interim parliament Rajendra Prasad and Sardar Patel. Outside, the orthodox priests, scholars and Hindu organisations cried foul. The RSS (banned in the wake of Gandhiji’s assassination) and the Hindu Mahasabha took up the fight to the streets. The Muslims became apprehensive over demands for a uniform civil code in place of a Hindu Code. There were public protests  and effigies of Nehru were burnt.

In the end, the prime minister gave in to the chorus of protest and the Bill could not become the Law. A disillusioned Dr.Ambedkar, the most brilliant law minister India ever had, quit the government and later formed his own  Scheduled Castes Federation, thus marking the launch of political communication from the dalit aspect. It is another story that the new parliament constituted after the general elections once again took up the Hindu Code Bill, but it was broken up into several legislations mainly to soften the opposition aroused by the earlier  comprehensive  Bill.  There was robust debate and finally the legislations were passed. The first President of India Dr.Rajendra Prasad had toyed with the idea of withholding his assent to the Bills. The newspapers dutifully reported the disagreement between the government and the President but did not take sides. And finally, Dr.Prasad, did not press his disagreement further and signed the Bill, making it into a historic  social reform  Act.

A moot point to ponder in this context is  whether such a law treading  on the  religious sentiments would have gone through peacefully if India of those times had 24x7 TV news channels. The short notable point was that the instruments of mediated political communication were rudimentary.

The Election and Political Education: Aptly described by foreign media as India’s biggest gamble, the first general elections held in early 1952 were unprecedented in its scale of operations. Over the years, the poll operations have only grown in size, complexity ,noise and colour. The poll process and the campaign have themselves turned into the medium and the message of political communication.

Only looking at the official logistical arrangements made then (1952), there were unique communication elements for overcoming  the prevailing mass illiteracy (85%) and even the absence of communication infrastructure. The political parties were assigned unique symbols for identification by voters to overcome the problem of illiterary. Unlike the present elections, there were individual ballot boxes for each party with its symbol. The very fact that at present Voting machine have replaced the ballot box itself shows the long democratic stride India has made. The Election Commission produced AV or audio-visual communication in the form of documentary films for educating the voters on how to exercise their ballots. The radio valiantly tried to supplement but its reach was limited.  From the time of its setting up, the Commission took almost one year to prepare for the polls. The mobilisation  of the general government staff such as teachers, clerks  and other government staff  and training them in conducting free and fair elections was another gigantic communication input.  

The political campaign adopted the communication methods, such as rallies, and public address, tried and tested during the freedom movement. People thronged to hear their heroes of the movement. The prime minister, who had by then wrested the Congress presidentship, led the campaign not just on behalf of his INC but for rallying the people behind the ballot box. The vigour of the opposition campaign could not be quelled by Nehru and INC juggernaut, as could be seen by the election results.

While ‘historians record the fact that Nehru’s Congress won a two-thirds majority in a House of 525 members, they failed to recognise the significance of  the opposition winning  more than 100 plus seats against severe odds. It was not a walk-over for INC, that speaks volumes for the effectiveness of political communication from the opposition parties.

The first general elections was held when there was no Gandhi  or Sardar Patel. They both passed away. Patel had out-manoeuvred Nehru on two crucial occasions. The first was in getting Dr.Rajendra Prasad elected as the first President of India. The prime minister’s wanted to nominate C.Rajagopalachari (Rajaji). Before Nehru could recover from this set back, both Patel and Dr.Prasad  got their nominee –Purushottam Das Tandon-elected as the Congress president at AICC session at Bangalore. The prime minister was more than upset by this choice, as he considered the new party president as a traditional conservative.

Contrast this with the AICC session held at the same venue almost 20 years later (1969), when Indira Gandhi was the prime minister. Following the 1969 AICC session, there were daily attacks against the Congress president and her supporters  like Kamaraj, Morarji Desai, S.K.Patil, A.P.Jain and others (branded as Syndicate), and counter attacks. There were mid-night media leaks of letters exchanged by the rival factions in order to gain prominence in the morning newspapers. Unlike Nehru who conceded the presidentship of India to Dr.Prasad, Mrs Gandhi chose to put up her own candidate, V.V.Giri in opposition to the party nomiee-Neelam  Sanjeev Reddy. This was the first and last time (thus far), the election to the office of the president of India generated not only political heat but exchange of polemics by proxies working for the rival candidates. The media chose to be part of this partisan war. On the daily newspapers front, the Patriot (started by left party stalwarts like Aruna Asaf Ali,Sripad Dange)  batted  for V.V Giri and the Indian Express took up the cause of the other side. The Bombay based tabloid weeklies like the Blitz of Rusi  Karanjia and  the Current edited by the redoubtable D.F Karaka battled it out, spitting much venom. Mrs Gandhi after getting Giri to Rastrapati Bhavan,   also split the party.

In contrast, Indira’s father bid his time and made the party president’ s tenure so difficult that the latter was forced to  resign. Patel was not around and Dr.Rajendra Prasad as the president of the country could not intervene. Nehru assumed the party presidentship before the general elections. From the political communication point of view, it was a very strategic move by the prime minister, as he became the biggest vote catcher for INC. A political commentator wryly remarked that ‘even a lamp- post could get elected, if it stood for election under the INC  banner’.

The prime minister Nehru undertook a whirl wind campaign (that could  matched by his daughter during the 1971 campaign and a comparable effort that comes to mind is that of Narendra Modi election campaign of 2013-14) covering almost 24,000 miles. Rarely the prime minister attacked other political parties or their leaders. Of course, at that stage of India’s politics, Nehru need not have had to attack his rivals. Most of them were his comrades in INC until recently. The prime minister was essentially engaged in selling his dream of India, as a nation anxious to put its poverty and illiteracy behind through the magic wand of centralised planning and destined to play a leading role on the world stage. The media followed the prime minister everywhere and every word he uttered was printed, faithfully. As mentioned by the historian Ramachandra Guha, a scribe compared Nehru’s election campaign to that of Samudra Gupta’s (patriarch of Gupta dynasty) campaign for conquest.

A little before  the elections,  a few new parties took birth. Except the CPI or the Communist

The author
sunarendra@gmail.com

party, all others including the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) were founded by ex–Congress leaders. The Communists had established a strong base in Telangana, that had witnessed much violence. As they were perceived to have sided with the British rule, their image was not very positive. Senior leaders of the Congress such as Jayaprakash Narain, J.B.Kripalani left INC to form their own socialist parties, as they felt that Nehru was not sufficiently socialist in his economic thinking. Shyama Prasad Mukherji of West Bengal broke away to found the BJS. At the state level also the INC faced  dissensions as there were political tussels for power. Although the birth of new parties was triggered by personality clashes, the political communication that emanated  during  this period was devoid of personal  attacks. No one questioned each other’s integrity or sincerity of purpose.

How I got the scoop on Gandhi’s assassination! I received severe spankings from my mother. As an eight year old boy, I used to play football (with used Tennis balls) with my friends in a park near our house in Mysore. We used to see older boys and men gathering near our play area and hoist a flag every evening.  After hoisting the flag, they would engage in vigorous exercises that used to end with a chorus of songs. Before dispersing some of them would come to meet our foot-ball team and spend time in telling us stories of Shivaji, Rana Pratap, and tales from Ramayana and Mahabharata. On some festival days they would distribute candies. On the evening of Janruay 29th, this group of men sat with us for a while and distributed Laddoos. We heard from them that Gandhiji will be no more. As I returned home, I told my mother, who was fond of telling me stories about Gandhiji (we had a big picture of him in our drawing room) that I heard Gandhiji will be no more.  She instantaneously began to beat me and admonished me not to say inauspicious things. I received more beating the next day when my brother rushed home around 6’O clock and informed my mother about Gandhiji’s assassination. On hindsight, I keep wondering as to how the news of a plot to kill Gandhiji could have travelled all the way to Mysore. Or was it a political communication of another kind!

Morarji Desai & the Art of Silence as Communication From July 14th to 19th  1969 evening, I was at No.5 Rajendraq Prasad Road, the residence of Morarji Desai, then Deputy prime minister and finance minister. I was his information officer and was asked to be present at his house from morning to till late in the evening for media relations. On the 14th afternoon, PTI flashed that the prime minister had relieved Morarji Desai of his finance portfolio. Without wasting any time Desai got into his private car and drove home. The media persons, some of the biggest names in contemporary journalism, would visit Morarji Desai throughout the day. All of them would bring latest news of some personal attack against him or the other  from the prime minister’s camp and expected Moraji Desai to react. His standard response was:’ I have nothing to say.If some has attacked me, please ask them the reason for it’. He would receive every journalist warmly, speak to each one but refrained from making any adverse comments. Desai also said: ‘it is the prime minister’s prerogative to appoint ministers. So also her prerogative to remove them’. He called me to his room and thanked me and instructed me not to continue my vigil at his house, as he was no longer in government. (From Desai’s residence, I rushed to the office of the Economic Affairs Secretary Dr.I.G.Patel to get a briefing on bank nationalisation that  followed. That is a separate story)

Blast from the past: Vajpayee's professionalism beyond politics

By S.Narendra

(Former Information Adviser to PM, Principal Information Officer

to the government, & Spokesperson)

Personal equations play a critical role even in a professional setting. This is more so in semi-political situations such as when I was the Spokesman and Information Adviser to more than one PM. When there was a political transition, such as the one that happened in May 1996 when BJP under Atal Behari Vajpayee replaced the Congress government of P.V.Narasimha Rao, I did not know the new PM personally.

Adding to my difficulty was the fact that several persons, with party affiliation, including some media persons, had entered PMO with Vajpayee to look after media affairs. In their eyes, officials who had worked with the previous governments, which were mostly Congress party ones, were suspect. No government official, including myself, had a choice because BJP had not won power at the centre since Independence. The BJP party functionaries could not understand the concept of civil service neutrality and official professionalism.

But their tallest leader, Atal Behari Vajpayee was different by miles. Soon after Vajpayee was sworn in as PM, I called on him. The great leader received me very cordially, put me at ease by telling that I should continue to function as before and said: ‘Hum media ko bahut samman karte hain’. His foster son- in- law Ranjan Bhattacharya, who was functioning as his personal assistant, was extraordinarily warm and courteous and did not seem to share the hang up of party functionaries. He greatly facilitated my work, especially by giving free access to PM, whenever I needed to meet him.

To recall, BJP had emerged in the 1996 elections as the single largest party but far sort of a majority. The President Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma  asked the government and prove its majority in Parliament within two weeks. The Congress had finished as the second largest party in Lok Sabha and was trying to forge a coalition with non-BJP ‘secular’ parties such as the left, Janata Dal and other small outfits. The Congress was not only surprised but upset that the President who originally hailed from the Congress and was elected to the office with its support had done the unthinkable act. At that stage of Indian politics (post-Babri Masjid demolition) BJP had been isolated as a ‘non-secular’ Hindu party and treated as a political pariah. In essence, politics was in a flux and the prospect of India having a stable government was uncertain.

It is customary for a newly sworn- in PM to make a national broadcast, very soon after assuming office for setting out his vision and agenda for the nation. During my meeting with Vajpayee, I broached this subject and submitted a draft text. He instructed me to pass it to Pramod Mahajan, who was very close to him. I followed the PM’s instructions and did not pursue the broadcast subject.

  

On the third day, I was instructed by Pramod Mahajan  to bring the official TV team to PM’s office. It was late evening. When I entered the PM’s office, he was busy discussing something with his principal secretary, B.N.Tandon. The TV and Radio recording teams began milling around in the room to set up their equipment. There were some other familiar faces from the media world who were considered close to BJP.  After some time, the PM spotted me and generally enquired whether all arrangements for the broadcast were in place. Without waiting for an answer, Vajpayee asked me: "Aapne speech dekha hai?” and gave me the folder containing the draft text. I had not seen the final version that had been given to PM, although I had given my draft to Pramod Mahajan.

On reading it, I was greatly disappointed with its contents. I submitted my view that the draft was needlessly combative: it also did not take into account the delicate political situation in which BJP was looking for allies to score a parliamentary majority. I frankly told PM that the text did not fit in with his image as a national leader, whose appeal cut across the political divide. The text had effectively reduced him to the level of a BJP PM.

Obviously, Vajpayee had not had the time to go through the text before. He took the file and spent some time in going through the draft. And then he apologized to the TV and radio teams and refused to record the broadcast that day, and asked his political advisers to rework the text. He also ensured that my inputs to be reflected in the revised version.

On the thirteenth day in office as PM, Vajpayee resigned as his government was unable to muster a majority in the Lok Sabha.

The author
sunarendra@gmail.com

Again, it is customary for an outgoing PM to broadcast a farewell message. His political advisers had presented a text to PM for the broadcast. When I took the TV team for recording his message, he asked me to read the text. It contained passages attacking political parties and did not showcase the tall leader's sagacity for reaching out to all sections, including opponents. There was no healing touch befitting an unstable national political situation that was bad for the country. After hearing my assessment, Vajpayee asked his political advisers to issue a press statement from the party office. And there was no PM's farewell broadcast.

Atal Behari Vajpayee was one wise leader who did not view professional advice through party or political prism. (Blog: (https//Spokesperson.blogspot)

Remembering APJ Abdul Kalam

Jayaprakash Rao, Director-PRCI Natonal Executive, who was associated with Dr Kalam since 1996 as  his  protocol officer and PRO at DRDO, addressed the students of Manhgalore University narrating his fond memories recently. The address evoked loud applause.

Media & PR complement each other

BHOPAL: Media and Public Relations are complementary to each other and enjoy a symbiotic relationship. The two crafts should harmonise with each other instead of working at cross-purposes. This was the sum and substance of a thought-provoking presentation by Chandrakant Naidu, a senior journalist, at a panel discussion organized by Bhopal Chapters of Indian Society for Training & Development (ISTD) and Public Relations Council of India (PRCI).  

Responding to the theme of the discussion, C.K. Sardana, a senior PR practitioner, said PR people formed a useful ‘source’ for media persons. Through their understanding of various facets of their own organizations and associated areas, they were able to provide in-depth information – what the media persons really needed – which help prepare good stories for print and electronic media. It was a sort of ‘mutual help and gain’ for both, he added.
Rashmi Bhargava, Chairperson, ISTD, Bhopal Chapter and C K Sardana, Chairman, PRCI Bhopal Chapter were present. J.N. Chawdhary, a veteran marketing man, was the patron at the panel discussion. Mahendra Joshi, Secretary, PRCI proposed a vote of thanks.

From The Hitavada, Bhopal, 31.08.2015.

In his opening observations,  former Regional Editor of Hindustan Times,  Chandrakant Naidu said the PR specialists excel at bringing forth the strong points of any institution to be highlighted through media. The news media cannot afford to ignore the weak points as their audience would expect them to put things in perspective. At times the news media’s job begins where the PR specialists’ ends. In the current media scenario the lines between PR and news presentations are blurring  due to commercial considerations of the media ownership.


Large number of persons from different walks of life participated in the inter-active panel discussions. Notable among them were Salil Chatterjee, Sanat Gangwal, R.N. Soni, O.P. Soni, C K Hayaran, Harsh Suhalka and Pradeep Bhargava.

PRCI Kerala joins Onam celebrations with Press Club

KOCHI: PRCI Kerala chapter has joined the Press Club-Kochi in celebrating Onam at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium.

K Babu, Hon. Minister for Fisheries, Ports & Excise inaugurated the celebrations.

Prof K V Thomas MP and Chairman Public Accounts Committee was the Chief Guest. N Venugopal. Chairman  Greater Cochin Development Authority, C Rajagopal. Chairman Minorities Cell BJP, Leno Jacob, Councillor Cochin Municipal Corporation, SAS Navaz IRS (Retd) Secretary RAC, T Vinay Kumar, Secretary Public Relations Council of India - Kerala Chapter, Kaithapram Viswanathan Namboodiri, Music Director, P K Natesh Treasurer PRCI Kerala Chapter, K Ravikumar, President Press Club and S Unnikrishnan, Secretary Press Club took part in the festivities.

A tug-of-war competition was held, followed a sumptuous Onam feast after the inauguration

When you didn’t have to shout to be heard!

• Golden Era of Political Communication
• No acrimony, bitterness despite fiercest political battles
• Kahaan Gaye Woh Log & Kahan Gaye Who Standards?

By S.Narendra

(Former Information Adviser to PM, Principal Information Officer

to the government, & Spokesperson)

That Political Communication (PC) from the leadership to the people and within the political channels stuck to the highest standards of democratic dialogue and debate was largely because of their schooling under Gandhiji during the decades of freedom movement. Almost all of them from the central to provincial leadership were highly (mostly western and English) educated and influenced by the British parliamentary traditions. Several of the leaders were in their own right were social reformers as well. Never before or after, at one point in history, India could boast of having a galaxy of leadership as erudite, eminent and principled as this.

The nation was fortunate that they were at the helm of affairs at this tipping point when India destiny had to be shaped.  Each page of the documents that record the debates that took place in the Constituent Assembly that was deliberating on the new Constitution of India showcases the best and brightest in Indian politics. An unwavering commitment to creating an ideal democracy and work for the realisation of a shared vision guided them and their participation in PC.

The political communication during these critical formative years was sufficiently strained and tested by most tragic and volatile political events. There were also transformative political developments. Together, they not only originated PC  on their own but they also had to be supported and moderated by  sane PC. The following is an overview of events and developments which were central to the political discourse of the times.

1.    The partition unleashed a communal holocaust. The population exodus and influx, marked by unprecedented communal violence had filled the air with hatred and intolerance. Both Muslim and Hindu organisations were engaged in PC for inflaming passions across the land.

2.    Massive celebrations for marking the Independence day from the midnight of August 14^th to 15^th in Delhi and elsewhere  were held under the shadow of partition and mass killings of people moving from one country to another. Yet the Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru’s stirring speech - ‘when the  world sleeps, India  awakes to a new freedom’  - and his famous ‘Tryst with Destiny’ set the tone for PC relating to the nation building tasks, especially preserving its unity. And this overarching watchfulness against divisive forces runs through India’s PC from here onwards.

3.    Ganhdiji who had won the freedom for us did not want to take part in these celebrations and went on fasting in Calcutta for convincing the Hindus and Muslims to give up mutual killing. The PC relating to violence in one part of the country was travelling fast and triggering a wave of riots. This was without the aid of mass media (that we are blessed with, today!).

4.    The PC from the government was focused on containing and stopping such violence and its spread through rumours. As described by a British general in Calcutta commanding the army deployed to deal with commercial riots, Gandhiji was a one-man army that brought peace where his troops had failed. Gandhiji’s fasting as a penance became the medium and the message and worked successfully for ending violence where official PC had failed. If you see this section in the film Gandhi, you would know what I mean. Not only the two warring communities agreed to give up violence in response to Gandhi’s fasting but it also made the prime ministers of India (Nehru) and Pakistan (Liaquat Ali Khan) visit Gandhiji in Calcutta and issue a joint appeal for peace.

5.    Gandhiji was opposed to partition; so aslo Dr.Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and many others who were part of the new governing team in Delhi. None of them raked up their differences in public for polarising the public opinion. It is recorded history that Sardar Vallabhai Patel  and Jawaharlala Nehru, two staunch soldiers of Gandhiji, had disagreed on most matters and both were contenders for the post of the prime ministership. However, when Gandhiji anointed Nehru for the post Sardar worked under him. A photograph of the  famous handshake between the two leaders across the personality of Gandhiji speaks volumes for PC. Neither side tried to reduce it to a mere photo-op (as one would experience today!) and lived and worked to honour its spirit. The volumes containing the correspondence between the two bring out the firmness with which each expressed his views on matters of great importance as well as the politeness and courtesies extended to   each other. And there were few media leaks that could have soured the relationship.

4.    On August 15^th, the area directly administered by the British government had become free. Nearly 700 princely states were yet to be integrated into the Indian government. States like Mysore, Hyderabad, Junagad, Kashmir, Travancore were prominent in defying the call for an end to princely rule and integrate with India. The freedom movement was continuing in these states and AIR became an important channel of the new government for political communication. When Sardar Patel  had to resort to police  action  in Hyderabad to persuade the Nizam to integrate his state with India, two kinds of political  communication were required, One was to reassure the people of the state that the government would intervene to support their struggle. Another was to warn the Nizam to trifle with India. A marauding group called Razkars supporting the Nizam and attacking the majority community that required to be dealt with; Another was to address the people in the rest of India who were eager to see how the new government would deal with mini-crisis. The AIR became the handmaiden of PC in those critical days.

5.    Another development requiring PC at home and abroad was the first Kashmir war that began in October 1947 when Pakistan sent tribal militias to Kashmir.  The Maharaja of J&K Hari Singh, seeking Indian assistance, acceded to India, But soon regular armies of India and Paksitan were engaged in fighting, and the dispute was taken to the UN by India. J&K’s undisputed leader them was Sheikh Abdulla, who was the principal initiator of PC in Kashmir. Nehru and Abdullah were the main voices heard by the rest of India and people abroad. The attempt in PC was to present India as a responsible member of the UN, a victim of aggression yet seeking a peaceful solution to a problem caused by a neighbour. It is notable that in PC the element of propaganda and was far lower than what transpired during the subsequent Indo-Pak wars. 

6.    A very significant stream of PC related to the making of the new Constitution. The elegant and erudite debates taking place in the Constituent assembly were copiously reported in the English news papers. The meaning of the debates was often lost in translation in the regional media. One does not know how much of the import of such debates were understood by the population, 85% of which were illiterate.

7.    The shortages that had surfaced during World War II were becoming acute by the day. Rationing of food and other essential items had continued. Now that the nation gained Independence and the freedom struggle had ended, an unprecedented admiration for certain leaders sprang up in every nook and corner of the counry. The people had invested great trust in the Indian National Congress as a movement, correspondingly in its leaders. Their credibility was high among the people. This was reflected on the walls of huts in villages and homes in small cities with people proudly displaying the photographs of  Gandhi, Nehru, Subhas Chnadra Bose, Sardar Patel, Dr.Ambedkar and many others  whom despite many people never seeing them in person. Many would even use pictures from the newspapers to show their admiration for their leaders.

8.    The Indian National Congress was a very extensive as well as powerful channels for PC during the freedom movement. It continued to retain its credibility and following in this golden era of PC. Most of the ministers in government in Delhi and other parts were former freedom fighters and members of INC. The halo effect of INC showed its big and not so big leaders in the best light and added to the credibility of the PC of the day. As far as the people were concerned, Delhi was far but not Gandhi-Nehru and the local leaders were assumed to be their followers, hence trust-worthy.

9.    An interesting feature of PC of that time of transition was its attempts to focus on India’s foreign relations. Nehru himself was steering this PC and was to become its most visible exponent and spokesman of the nation’s foreign policy. As early as March 1947, Nehru hosted the Asian Relations Conference, showcasing his preoccupation with foreign relations. Soon, India was taking the lead in the global campaign against colonialism that still controlled many nations. The Indo-Pak conflict had entered the UN generating its own PC. The PM’s visit abroad, particularly to USA in 1949 was big news back home. This was featured as the Indian people’s hero straddling the global stage like a colossus, making the chest of every Indian puff out with pride. The competition between the USSR and the West to sway India into their respective camps during in the cold war that was brewing (1945 to 1990)  was also responsible for greater foreign policy content in the contemporary political communication.

The author
sunarendra@gmail.com

This golden period of political communication, it should be noted, was before electoral politics entered Indian democracy. No doubt, INC and its leaders had contested elections under the British and there were bitter electoral battles within the  Congress party, but there was hardly any bitterness or acrimony. When Subhas Chandra Bose won the election to the office of the Congress presidentship (1938), much against the wishes of Gandhiji, there was palpable unpleasantness. However, they were clean political contests based on ideology and means to win freedom for India, and certainly not for winning power with selfish motives. Luckily for the country, even in provinces there were leaders who matched the stature of national leaders with a stellar record of participation in the freedom movement. The pan-India presence of INC gave a different direction to political communication. (Blog: (https//Spokesperson.blogspot) 

The future is digital and mobile communication

Masterstroke Interview with Ashwani Singla Founding Managing Partner at Astrum, Ashwani Singla

By Richa Seth

Real People, Real Stories SHARED in a Real Way is the future of Public Relations. Understanding the drivers to human emotions and creating a compelling narrative is where science will provide the edge to creativity, opines Ashwani Singla, Founding Managing Partner at Astrum. He has over two decades of rich experience in the communications industry and has founded India’s first specialist reputation management advisory that uses science to understand and shape public opinion. In an exclusive interview with Richa Seth, he talks about Astrum, his experiences and his views on the future of PR industry. The interview:

Ashwani Singha

1. After being in the leadership roles at Penn Schoen, Genesis Burson-Marstellar, what was your motivation to start Astrum?


Over the years, engaging clients across a spectrum of corporations and political parties convinced me that traditional public relations would need to evolve to science based reputation management if it was to truly find its place inside the board room. Traditional approach had its successes but far and few between. We needed a “Blue Ocean” approach where understanding and shaping public opinion through science and persuasive communication is at the heart of everything we do.

However, this approach needs multi-disciplinary talent at the intersection of research, digital, rich media content and communication to shape opinions in a legitimate and an ethical way. New talent pool needed to be blended with the existing ones. A new beginning had to be made to break the mold.

I also felt, that the large network approach to talent development and growth was out of step with today and often missing the big picture. The rules have changed and new generation workforce, wants to co-create their future. We need to adapt to this new reality quickly to attract and retain the best talent.

Another important consideration was that PR didn’t find a place in the board room and given the absolute criticality of reputation as a factor in business leadership, clients needed an advisory that could work in the C Suite.

So the best way to give shape to my dreams was as they was “to put your money where your mouth is.”

2. What does the name ‘Astrum’ stand for? How has the journey been so far and what has the response been so far for your services, the team strength, what is the geographic presence of the company currently, the client base as on date?

Astrum in Latin means the brightest star in its constellation and the purpose of each Astrum professional is to help our client be that star. A simple idea of helping our client be the ‘first amongst equals’.

I have always believed in building robust institutions that thrive across generations. So Astrum has commenced its journey with the same goal.

We launched in May this year and in the last few months have established a state-of-art full service office in Gurgaon and a growing presence in Mumbai. We hope to inaugurate our Mumbai office soon. We also have a dedicated affiliate presence in over 60 plus cities across the nation. Not stringers.

We have a fully operational cloud-based infrastructure that allows us to work for our clients anywhere-anytime across multiple devices: notebook, tab or a smartphone making our counselors responsive and agile to the needs of our clients. We have built our technology to assure our clients of continuity and consistency in the work we do for them.

We never name our clients due to reasons of client confidentiality, however, I can confirm that clients and prospects have welcomed the approach, as they see a combination of intellectual bandwidth driving strategic thinking with competent professionals delivering high caliber work in-step with their needs today.

With the confidence of our clients with us, the fast growing team of Astrum team combines dynamic young professionals and senior leaders. The proof of the pudding is that our cross functional teams across the disciplines of insights, digital, branding, communications and measurement are working seamlessly in developing and delivering holistic reputation management campaigns. That is the Astrum Way at work already.

We have a refreshing approach to our talent development with accent on learning and growth and an egalitarian and inclusive culture. We are investing in building an empowered organization where learning fuels results and growth. All benefits apply equally to all and not driven by designations. For e.g. the medical cover for my office assistant and me is of the same value and for the same hospitals. No annual appraisals, self approval for leave, travel and expenses, 360-degree feedback for development and multi-channel learning, online, on-the-job and classroom, amongst the things we are focused on. These are already in-place and in-use.

We have achieved much in a very short time because of the caliber of the team that I am blessed to have them. They are passionate about what they do.

3. With the PR industry increasingly becoming specialized, do you see India Inc. willing to pay for such niche consultancy?

Actually on the contrary, Astrum is a specialist and not a “niche” advisory. Reputation is today central to leadership whether corporate or political. Clients are looking for an advisory that can work seamlessly with them co-create a strategy that protects and drives reputation. We help clients answer some very fundamental questions:

• Who do we need to “win”?
• What drives their consideration?
• What do we need to do to lead?
• What do we say to stand apart?
• What is the best way to engage?

Driven by insights, the campaigns we are developing tend to holistic and more effective. So, you can see our focus is to offer a comprehensive solution to our clients to be the first amongst equals. Clients will gladly pay when they value and results.

4. Can you please share details of the campaign executed for BJP during the 2014 General Elections or any one of interesting works done by the Astrum team?

The work we do is confidential to our clients and we would never talk about it. The work that I did for the BJP as the campaign strategist for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections was prior to founding Astrum. We are currently engaged with several clients across NCR and Mumbai. For example, we are helping a client recast their corporate brand including re-design of the corporate identity; to another, we are helping establish a corporate thought leadership strategy, all driven by insights and data.

5. Do you have start-ups seeking counseling & advice and moreover are they willing to pay for it?


I have worked with several start-ups and also invested in a few besides sitting on their advisory boards. As any solid professional, they are hungry for good advice that fuels their business growth and interest in their idea. Money is a function of value and delivery and with the funding coming in liberally, “money for value” drives the consideration.

6. What are the future plans for Astrum?

We are focused on delivering what we promise. As long as we continue to do so, rest will follow. What is really exciting for me is that we are investing today in developing the quality of talent that will not only allow us to deliver our promise but also form the kernel of the future leadership of Astrum.

We plan to launch T.A.R.A (The Astrum Reputation Academy) in early 2016 with the focus on developing our in-house talent and a nine-month campus apprenticeship programme christened The Astrum Young Leaders Development Programme (AYLDP). Great talent will produce great work. That is my belieff.

7. Being a part of the communications industry for over two decades now, how do you see the PR industry shaping up?

Wow. Time has flown and this July I completed two decades in the industry! I am delighted to see it evolve from a nascent to a more mature industry. At Genesis, we led the way in making PR more organized, professional and Strategic. I can say that is true for the industry in general today. The coming of the global firms has brought best practices, international exposure and new thinking to the table, leaving very little choose one from the other.

Having said that, I believe the future will be ideas driven through mobile and digital platforms where medium could also become the message. Real People, Real Stories SHARED in a Real Way is the future of Public Relations. Understanding the drivers to human emotions & creating a compelling narrative is where science will provide the edge to creativity. This year, I saw a glimpse of the future during the judging the Cannes Entries as jury member.

In India, LTE will bring both data and device disruption rapidly and those who (clients and consultancies included) are not prepared for it will be marginalized. Talent development continues to be an area of concern for me, both organizations and professionals need to invest in continuing education to sharpen their skills to stay in the game. We will need to bridge the gap between the talk and the walk.

8.If you were to hire budding communications professionals, what would be the key attributes orqualities that you will be looking for?


Besides the technical skills that we may specifically look for, this is what we generally look for in an Astrum Counsellor:

• You are deeply committed to a career in reputation management
• You are able to synthesis complex problems into clear understanding
• You can write great copy in English and you are good public speaker
• You challenge the conventional and are entrepreneurial in getting things done
• You pay great attention to detail
• You are always hungry to learn and forever in pursuit of excellence
• You always put your team ahead of yourself
• You are apolitical and set the bar high in professional conduct and ethics
• You are not afraid of working with smarter and sharper colleagues
• You are not clock watcher and you can easily multi-task
• You work comfortably in a high-tech and a high-touch environment
• You are self-assured and dos not fear failure
• You always speak your mind while respecting the views of others
• You are multi-faceted and pursue your passions beyond work
• You celebrate diversity in age, gender, faith and culture

Anything else that you would like to share with us?

Thank you for the opportunity to invite me to share my views with the readers of Vikipedia. I wish Vikram and the team best of luck. Forum such as this, encourage discussion and debate and add to the body of knowledge in public relations which is the need of the hour. (By arrangement with

http://www.vikypedia.in/

)

PrezSpeak: PRCI hoists flag at Bombay University!

As we cross the 9,000 mark in the global page-views of PRapport, we have some more happy news to share.

The viewership in the US has crossed 4500 and in India 4000!

PRCI has successfully worked out a deal with Mumbai University’s Journalism department.

They have agreed in principle to actively participate in YCC not only by encouraging their students to join in, but to ask over 80 (yes E I G H T Y) colleges teaching mass media courses to start their own YCC activities.

To begin with, we will run a contest on our 10^th Global Communication Conclave theme – Digital Now; What Next – among all mass media students and pick up a 3-member team to be sent to Kolkata. Once we finalise the format, we can run similar exercises in journalism colleges across our Chapter cities and for a final team for YCC session at Kolkata.

I am sure, we can have students from at least Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kochi, apart from the host city Kolkata.

Mumbai University is planning to hold an all-India meet and asked for our involvement and support. PRCI will be partner. Our logo will go on all material, including mementos. The theme will mostly be ‘The Changing Trends in Communication’ and the plan is to involve media persons as well.

Mumbai University has also requested us to nominate people from our ‘Guest Faculty Pool’ for lectures time to time. No problem. We have enough and more people.

Finally, Mumbai University is oganising a workshop on Development Journalism for media educators from different government and private institutes, pan-India. It will be a virtual class room. You will be happy to know that your President – National Executive will anchor and be the Resource Person!

Meanwhile we had a group of BMM students from Tilak College (pictured)

to our office and we planted the idea of YCC in their minds.

Meanwhile, some hackers found it worthwhile to hack into our web site last week. We quickly detected and now had the site shut for a couple of days. Now its up and running.

Before I sign off, here is the customary stats table on PRapport. 

Pageviews by Countries

Entry	Pageviews
United States	4570
India	4004
Germany	198
United Kingdom	59
Hong Kong	55
Singapore	51
France	40
United Arab Emirates	24
Portugal	24
Spain	14

Till I have some breaking news....