The general elections in India are the biggest spectacle of democracy in the world. In the 2014 election, data from the Election Commission of India state that there were more than 800 million eligible voters in India. The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) emerged as the single largest party and the National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP toppled the 10-year regime of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Exit polls and optimistic projections could not predict the actual outcome of the election; the BJP securing an absolute majority. Unarguably, the single largest factor behind this thumping victory was the Modi-wave— a factor of anti-incumbency, unprecedented marketing techniques, and general economic insecurity of the electorate.
Elections 2014 truly exemplified the virtues of new communication techniques, ground-breaking strategy, and the organizational death-trap called complacency. BJP’s campaign was a success story carved from hard-work, innovation and customer insight. Narendra Modi’s campaign travel across far reaching corners of the country could well be the most extensive one in the history of Indian democracy. Social media played a central role in increasing the campaign’s reach and impact. Besides that, the BJP’s manifesto was reflective of the biggest pain points that the people in the country faced and ways to mitigate them. In all, the run up to Elections 2014 sprayed some crucial lessons on the wall. Some remarkable highlights include the following.
Social-media leading the charge
While most contesting parties invested in traditional print and broadcast channels, BJP showed the country’s political think-tank the power of social media. Much before the elections, Narendra Modi already had more followers on Twitter and ‘Page Likes’ on Facebook, than the PMO. Not only were these accounts managed professionally, Modi himself built repute as a social-media savvy politician, clicking ‘selfies’ and using hashtags. His social media clout was far higher than 90 per cent of all other celebrities in the country. The educated electorate had a direct connect with Modi- they could directly post questions to him and receive personalized responses. It represented abolition of the invisible walls between the leader and the voter. BJP’s social media campaign was an eye-opener on the importance of fairness and transparency in this era of open information and the millennial generation.
Earlier this year, the American CEO magazine presented the findings from a word-cloud analysis that researchers gleaned from articles and write-ups about the 20 most successful CEOs. The analysis reveals that playing the role of a relationship builder is among the top mantras of successful leaders in this day and age. Modi’s social media drive reveals this quality amply. It is a great lesson in self-leadership for all CEOs and business leaders.
Shah-Modi partnership
People call them the Jai-Veeru of Elections 2014. If Narendra Modi was the face of BJP, Amit Shah was the brain behind it. Coming from a radically different background than that of Modi, but bound by a common ideology, Shah was an omnipresent force in building his war strategy. He virtually oversaw almost everything else around the BJP’s ascent to power, including the PR, budgeting, and administration.To the BJP camp, Shah was the cold and calculative strategist who would handle crisis and never let the face of the party down at any stage- a heady mix of Tom Hagen and Luca Brasi in Mario Puzo’s masterpiece, The Godfather.
Playing the role of a king-maker is equally important for an organization as making a leader effective. In these times where most organizations are in a scamper for hiring the best leaders, how many have consciously carved out plans to hire king-makers? A famous general in history once quoted after facing defeat, “God has a good sense of humour. He made me the greatest leader in history, but look at what he gave me to lead.” It is critical for the success of any leader that s/he has a follower who is willing to translate his vision into tangible results. While the model of followership as a leadership concept is still in its nascent stages, history has shown that it is true that every successful leader had support from a silent king-maker who influenced, motivated, and enabled the translation of her/his vision.
Learning from competition
While the anti-incumbency factor across the country was unmistakable, AAP dealt a serious blow to BJP’s battle strategy. The Delhi elections proved to be a sufficient reason for concern, with AAP emerging as the giant killer. But unlike other political parties, who were more busy maligning AAPs reputation, the BJP think-tank chose to watch and learn from AAP’s success. After having observed the strategy of their biggest threat, the BJP adapted a new approach, one that still upheld the foundations of its campaign but adjusted to the changed conditions. While the BJP campaign still hinged around the agenda of development, it also incorporated populist agendas learning from AAP such as anti-corruption and civil development.
We’ve often heard anecdotes about ‘the great divide’ between employee voice and business strategy, mostly a consequence of the organizational leadership’s ignorance. The same American CEO magazine’s word-cloud analysis mentioned earlier reveals that adaptability, effective communication and customer advocacy constitute qualities of great modern-day CEOs. Are organizations putting together processes and practices that allow the actual voice of the organization and the market to reach the leadership? More importantly, how are we measuring the leadership’s commitment and holding them accountable for employee voice?
The AAP effect
The emergence and success of the AAP was perhaps the most exciting phase in the run up to Elections 2014. From a local pressure group based in Delhi, the AAP emerged as a winner in the Delhi Assembly elections outnumbering many leading parties and being invited by the Governor to form the government in the state. A win in Delhi was of exceptional strategic significance as it gave AAP the impetus to go national and contest the Lok Sabha elections from across the country. While the experience and battle hardiness of the BJP prevailed in the end, it cannot be denied that the emergence and unprecedented success of the AAP altered many paradigms in the political landscape in India. For instance, AAP’s success showed that the limitations of resource, age and experience can be overcome through technology and neo-age tactics such as crowdsourcing, strong market research and investment in the right customer communication. AAP emerged as a fresh face with a novel way to operate a democratic process and it caught the fancy of the electorate. They could as well have pulled it off, lest for the wrong decisions at critical junctures which the party’s leadership took in an attempt to make maximum impact in minimum time. Whatever said and done, the emergence of AAP indicate the changing times of Indian politics— a system democratised through technology and crowdsourcing.