India's Chanakyas: Meet The 'Backroom Boys' Of Top Political Leaders

It may seem like a bit of political incongruity but Mayawati바카라�s confidant-in-chief is a Brahmin. Satish Chandra Mishra, virtually number two in the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), has over the years emerged as the key political advisor, election manager and deal-maker for 바카라�Behenji바카라�. The low-key Mishra is said to have negotiated the alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP). And it was on his counsel that Mayawati vetoed the inclusion of Congress in the grand alliance. Both are chessboard moves that will alter the voting patterns of millions in Uttar Pradesh, with the capacity to mould the very shape of the 17th Lok Sabha one way or the other. Not just potentially game-changing strategic choices, but acts that can impact India바카라�s political destiny way beyond their immediate circumstance of birth. And they emanated not entirely from a supremo바카라�s instincts, nor the empty drums who rattle a lot on TV or Twitter, but a person largely in the shadows. Not Akbar, so to speak, but a silent Birbal. One who mostly speaks only off-stage.

It바카라�s a whole array of roles and functions that they fill out. From number-crunchers to SWOT analysts, speechwriters to henchmen, fixers and Man Fridays and troubleshooters, OSDs and secretaries, mere factotums, or even full-blooded political animals who can read the winds and talk across party lines. In election season, the art of behind-the-scenes politics is perhaps more vital than the populist public rhetoric of leaders. The latter germinates in the backrooms, the real lab. This is where public manoeuvres are conceived and fine-tuned, this is where the hotlines buzz, where allies, potential allies and even enemies come calling. This backstage needs people who have a clear periscope to possible futures, and words flexible enough to realise them.

But for a leader, Mayawati or any other, it바카라�s unspoken loyalty and complete discretion that are the most valued qualities in an aide. Mishra, a lawyer by profession, ticked these and much more. He was taken into the fold to expand the BSP바카라�s catchment area beyond its predominantly Dalit base. After sharing power in UP in uneasy alliances with the SP and then the BJP, Mayawati tasted full majority only in 2007. The highlight of her victory: the seemingly incongruent addition of Brahmin votes to a 바카라�Dalit party바카라�, the 바카라�Haathi nahi Ganesh hai바카라� phase바카라�. Mayawati바카라�s razor-sharp political brain was at work there, but soon she found another mind that could share the burden of tactical thinking on her behalf. He became perhaps the only 바카라�Chanakya바카라� to figure in the WikiLeaks revelations. The documents described him as 바카라�fluent in English and바카라�the principal interlocutor between the US Embassy and the BSP바카라�.

Indira Gandhi, back in the day, didn바카라�t need to outsource her English, but an utterly loyal shadow was a total must for one who did not trust people easily. In fact, she came to acquire a few바카라�R.K. Dhawan, M.L. Fotedar and P.N. Haksar. 바카라�All three were family loyalists and contributed to the making of Indira바카라�s iron lady image. Fotedar and Haksar, both Kashmiri Pandits, had worked closely with Nehru too,바카라� recalls a senior Congress leader. In her Pandit cabal, there were also P.N. Dhar and D.P. Dhar. But it was Dhawan, a stenographer in Nehru바카라�s office, who 바카라�rose to become the most important person in her PMO바카라�.

The trust quotient, and deficits thereof, make for fascinating portraits even in such rarefied spaces. Dhawan was Indira바카라�s 바카라�gatekeeper바카라� during the Emergency, instructing mantris and mukhya mantris alike. T.V. Rajeswar, the IB chief those days, wrote in his book that it was Dhawan who informed him about his appointment. However, the shrewd Indira didn바카라�t allow him to exercise unrestrained power either: Fotedar was deployed as a foil to him. If it was Dhawan who carried the Emergency proclamation to President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed for his signature, Fotedar was one of the two witnesses to her will. Fotedar was a kindly avuncular presence even for Rajiv and later Sonia Gandhi, who even referred to him as 바카라�Chanakya바카라�. He was one of the strategists, along with Pranab Mukherjee and the late Arjun Singh, who gave shape to the UPA coalition that managed to end the Vajpayee era and rule for a decade. Haksar, Indira바카라�s principal secretary from 1967 to 1972, advised her on bank nationalisation, and played a vital backroom role during all the frenetic strategising during the 1971 war that ended with the creation of Bangladesh.

Dhawan isn바카라�t the only stenographer to inveigle himself into the inner circle of the Gandhis. Vincent George, though not in the same league as Dhawan, was first with Rajiv and then came to wield a disproportionate amount of power as Sonia바카라�s PA바카라�till he was investigated by CBI for, well, disproportionate assets. Though finally discharged, he lost the proximity and the borrowed eminence. Congress leader Ahmed Patel, who served as Sonia바카라�s political advisor proper, has now managed to survive in Team Rahul too, after some discomfiting moments.

Over the years, the media managers of leaders also emerged as important backroom boys바카라�doing as much of a crucial job behind closed doors as in the public, though in a less potent role. Indira had the erudite H.Y. Sharada Prasad, part of whose skills lay in knowing when to stay in the shadows and when to emerge with the right amount of information. Sanjaya Baru, who served as media advisor to Manmohan Singh till 2008, differentiates this role from that of the traditional 바카라�backroom boy바카라�. 바카라�Media advisors are professionals in the PMO. Someone like Dhawan was a more political person,바카라� he says. But he says his interactions with the media would flow back as inputs. 바카라�The main benefit of such information is that it may not be available to the PM through official channels like IB, RAW and the bureaucracy,바카라� he tells Outlook. But 2008, of course, was another era. The blooming of digital media platforms now calls for a different kind of 바카라�backroom boy바카라�.

The BJP, way faster in adapting to the new epoch, relies on a whole parallel world of social media generals and footsoldiers. But yes, the old-world manoeuvring skills of the late Pramod Mahajan, Arun Jaitley (often monikered as the 바카라�Chief of Bureau바카라� for his media management) and, more recently, Amit Shah are still critical. Alliance-making (and breaking), forging industry links, steering legal strategies, coordinating between HQ and the grassroots바카라�take a Ram Madhav, a Piyush Goyal or a Bhupendra Yadav filling out these roles. Madhav바카라�s hand was a significant one in swinging the Northeast for the BJP. He, in turn, was helped by his own team of strategists that included a backroom girl, Shubhrastha, who made Assam her home for over a year in the run-up to the assembly elections.

Part of the growing tribe of professional strategists, she started out with Prashant Kishor, the pioneer, in 2013 and was part of a volunteer outreach that turned the media image of Narendra Modi. 바카라�Our role is very fluid. We could be flowing from one vertical to another바카라�from data analytics to social media outreach one day, strategising on communication the next. Though I바카라�ve taken a definite political position that바카라�s closer to being anti-Congress, parties are looking for professionals, not necessarily loyalists,바카라� she tells Outlook.

There바카라�s another kind of professional layer. M.R. Madhavan, founder of PRS Legislative Research, says MPs and MLAs also need proper research support. 바카라�An elected MP/MLA is like a CEO of a company looking after his constituency. They need research inputs and analysis바카라�we provide them that assistance,바카라� he says. PRS runs the LAMP fellowship that offers a platform for young Indians to engage with policy-making at a national level. A selected Fellow gets to work with a MP for almost a year. 바카라�This benefits the MPs and gives bright young people an opportunity to get into politics. Many of our LAMP fellows now work with leaders and joined their party,바카라� says Madhavan.

It바카라�s still a subsidiary role, says Ashwini Anand, a political consultant-turned-tech entrepreneur. 바카라�High-calibre consultants can help bring a certain efficiency to the execution of any campaign. But they should be viewed, at best, as Gandiva bows to the Arjunas, rather than Arjunas themselves,바카라� he says바카라�they can바카라�t swing an election on their own. 바카라�Ultimately, it바카라�s not social media campaigns or PowerPoint presentations but the ability of the politician to connect....바카라� But it바카라�s a zone of mobility: subsidiary, maximally, can also yield an Amit Shah, who has risen from a satrap바카라�s confidant to near-potentate. Read below the snapshots of India바카라�s unknown regional Chanakyas carefully: you could be looking at a future kingmaker.

Who Are Akhilesh Yadav's Political Advisors?

Meet Kancherla Keshava Rao, Advisor To KCR

India's Chanakyas | Meet N. Chandrababu Naidu's Political Advisors

Meet The Man Behind Stalin바카라�s Stand-Out Presence On Social Media

V.K. Pandian, Advisor To Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik

Meet Sanjay Yadav, Political Advisor To Tejashwi Yadav

E.K. Palaniswami's 'Chanakyas': The Mani Twins

R.C.P. Singh: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's Man Friday

Waheed-Ur-Rehman Parra And Naeem Akhtar: Former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti's 'Chanakyas'

Who Is Taranga Gogoi, Himanta Biswa Sarma's Aide?

Meet Trinamool Boss Mamata Banerjee's 'Backroom Men'

Meet The Men Who Run Devendra Fadnavis' War Room