Entering Politics and Getting the Ticket

Say, you are a citizen who doesn’t just want to curse the kind of politicians we have. Instead, you are willing to become one to improve things. How would you even go about becoming a politician and getting the party ticket? After all, unless elected, you can’t change anything. Rwitwika Bhattacharya-Agarwal explains how to go about those aspects in What Makes a Politician.

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Professional “bias” in politics

 

How do you prepare for a political career? The first step for most would be to join the youth wing of a political party to learn the ropes, and meet party leaders. But if you’re too old for youth wings, then the profession you are in may help. Lawyers, for example, are the most common profession that joins politics. That is because of their understanding of the constitution, laws, and yes, they may have represented the party or a political leader in the past in a legal case. Bureaucrats stand a good chance for similar reasons – experience, proximity, and thus relations with leaders. Economic and policy advisors too stand a good chance. Social workers tick the box on visibility and recognition within the community. So too do celebrities, who also bring in an advantage of being able of funding their campaigns. (She ignores 2 other prominent groups in her book – dynasts and mobsters – because they are not the kind who would need such a book anyway).

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Getting the party ticket to contest elections

 

Unlike the US, she points out, in India there is no established process of “how (political) talent is scouted, offered a ticket for respective parties, funded for candidacy and brought in to office”. A common criteria for picking a candidate is recognition amongst constituents. And to get that name and face recognition, one needs to do a lot of social work as a party worker and a foot soldier.

 

How does one become the candidate? She says that the dynasts gain the most publicity because they are often at the top, but the majority of MLA’s and MP’s in most parties are not dynasts. Right or not, the caste and community of the candidate matters. A lot. The ability to mobilize supporters also counts for a lot. The relation with the foot soldiers of the party is important, but not critical. The same applies for visibility among the constituents. Since parties don’t have a clear structure about funding the candidate, the ability of the candidate to raise funds for themselves is important. Oratory skills carry some weightage too.