Political PR experience - Work Diaries

It was January 2024, I got a call from Basant Babal 's team of Pandav Politics for a PR Consultation for a Political Project and I completely ignored it thinking not to get into all this. After a couple of days, I got a call from his partner and his team and they said me they like my work and wanted to collaborate with me and I clearly said them that I have never worked on any political project and I am into startups and corporates. They informed me this is for Shree CP Joshi ji, Lok Sabha Sansad (Member of Parliament) from Chittorgarh and Rajasthan BJP State President. I took some time to research about them and I thought let me experiment and give it a try and I joined them in February.

The legacy of Chittorgarh attracted me too.

Before my actual joining, I got to see the true faces of some colleagues. The jealousy and hatred. A particular BFSI journalist used to irritate me for over 2 years for contacts, and suggestions, and randomly call me as per his wish. And he targeted me personally for his selfish motives just because he didn't like BJP. I regret helping such a cheap, mean and opportunistic person who couldn't see the happiness/work/growth of others.

What a crazy experience it was. The winter there was something I was not used to. Nor the water was suitable for me. I didn't like the food too. But I kept myself happy. I met new people and made new friends (and a foe). I lived in a hostel-like setup.

Each day was a new learning as I was new to this dimension and this part of our country. I learned the difference between Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha. I didn't type in Hindi and this was a challenge and majority of people in my work eco-system there didn't know English. There was a separate team for social media, tele-calling and survey, voter-mapping and field associates. I understood about War Room in Political Consultancy works. With this experience, I can now run a full-fledged Political Consultancy.

I was completely out of my comfort zone. But somewhere I was happy to come back to the roots of Rajasthan as I am a Rajasthani.

The colleagues there were from varying parts of Rajasthan and some were from other states having experience in Political works. Each shared their experiences and insights. Each one was crazy in their own way.

Through work, I became aware of the local problems there, and a few of them brought tears to my eyes. Some tribals there were not sending their children to school, nor consume the medicines for iron deficiencies given by the doctors and government bodies for free of cost for their own well-being. Unemployment and skill gap was a major issue too (just a Pan-India thing). For a day I wore a formal shirt feeling like Mohan Bhagwat of Swades and I realized it all looks good in movies and not in real life. To be a political leader is a huge huge responsibility.

My work was simple. To give campaign ideas, monitor the news, at times prepare dossiers and morning tracking. I was completely away from the field. At times participate in group discussions. Once-a-week presentation to the client team. Comparatively, it was easy I must say. My colleagues there said it was very easy to work with Shree CP ji because he is a humble person compared to other politicians and he stays away from the limelight. Also, BJP is the ruling party in Rajasthan and Shree CP Joshi ji is the third consecutive MP candidate with two previous wins, the scenario is easy. I agree with them.

At times, brainstorming and planning needed to be specific and region-centric because Shree CP ji was Lok Sabha MP (Central Government) and simultaneously also the State President of BJP Rajasthan (State Government).

Many a time, the PR plans came from the central government team which needed to be aligned as the campaign was being run on the face of the star campaigner and the Honorable Prime Minister Shree Narendra Modi ji.

I also worked and discussed other projects with the core team. They all were welcoming to my ideas, suggestions and experiences.

I had made PR Plans till April by mid-March and I thought of leaving the project as I didn't want to see the summers there and also not to tolerate that one toxic manager (whom I didn't report to since day one). During Holi, almost everyone was leaving for home and Basant suggested to me to go home for Holi and work from home till the end of the month.

It was a great experience. I used to walk nearby in the evenings. I became friends with a cafe owner there who is very sweet. And I actually liked the food at her place unlike other places in general. I remember one stall at a road side prepared amazing pav-bhaji and noodles. That particular family was from Gwalior. I must have seen the Chittorgarh Fort 10 times and walked there. I visited the Mira Bai temple there. I visited Sanwariya Seth and had a secret deal with him. The rural interiors were amazing from Chittorgarh to Sanwariya Seth. I wish I had visited Udaipur too and the place where Parshuram visited (I forgot the name).

Shree CP Joshi ji won from the Chittorgarh Lok Sabha constituency for the third time now. Being a BJP member since the start of his political career, he is obviously with BJP and NDA as a Member of Parliament. In a diverse nation of 1.4 billion people, there are only 788 MPs of which 543 are of Lok Sabha. Now I can imagine the magnitude and niche of the work that I did in February and March this year as a PR. I must say, Shree CP ji is a very humble, simple and sweet person.

I was very hesitant to work on this project because I have never worked in a political niche and I didn't aspire to. I have always kept myself away from politics and have been apolitical. The owners were from Jodhpur which is my birthplace and they were nice to me on the phone which gave me confidence of safety. Now I am glad I had this enriched experience and exposure. I am very humbled.

#pr #publicrelations #internalcommunication #chittorgarh #rajasthan #government #politician #policymaker #nda #corporatecommunication #publicaffairs #personalbrand #loksabha #parliament #governmentaffairs #influencer #publicpolicy #legacy #politics #imagemanagement #reputation #bjp Meghna Mehra Ajay Singh jadon