Political consulting and democratic accountability

Political consulting has become a defining feature of India’s electoral landscape.

- Shubhrastha

Campaign strategy, voter research, organisational design, digital mobilisation and narrative coherence are now recognised forms of political labor. This reflects a basic fact of mass democracy: Complex societies generate specialised political work. The question, therefore, is not whether political consulting belongs in India's democracy, but how it should be ethically and institutionally situated within it. The recent raids on the IPAC office in Kolkata have brought that question into sharper focus.

Political consulting develops in relation to political architecture. Presidential systems with long campaign cycles and expansive private fundraising have produced large consulting industries operating alongside parties. Parliamentary democracies embed consulting within clear institutional boundaries, where expertise supports rather than substitutes party authority. These differences flow from how power, money and legitimacy organise themselves.

India’s democratic environment is unusually complex. Scale, social diversity, and electoral competition coexist with uneven institutional capacity. Professional consulting has strengthened this ecosystem by bringing organisational discipline to campaigns, improving coherence and opening pathways for political participation beyond dynastic or entrenched patronage. From inside campaigns, one sees how the method gives political instinct durability. These gains deserve acknowledgement.