. Fresh from their successful Bengal campaign, I-PAC set to introduce to Goa scientific and professional poll management
. I-PAC’s core team is stationed in Goa now till the “last vote is counted”
. Good, clean and research-based candidate selection to be the basis of Team I-PAC
PANJIM: In the last three weeks as political activity has heightened in the State, there is one institution, which is not a political party that has been making the most impact and generating conversations and interest.
I-PAC or Indian Political Action Committee, formed under the tutelage of the legendry election strategist Prashant Kishore, whose highly trained election machinery run by a team of its co-directors and over a hundred people on the ground as of now, to be increased at every stage, has been in Goa for close to three months.
The team consists mainly of young professionals mainly from IITs and prestigious law colleges and other top-notch universities who have left high paying jobs in MNCs to work for a political movement which is not about party ideology but to manage elections scientifically through the power of research, technology and communication with a big X-factor- listening to people
In fact, it is I-PAC that has been the force behind the inroads made by the TMC in Goa, including the joining of former Goa CM Luizinho Faleiro and the initial team of politicians, professionals and civic society members along with a team of MPs from the party.
Speaking to Herald, one of the senior Directors of I-PAC said, “We go into a state to understand what the people of the state understand. We do not claim to know the state, as well as the locals do, be it parties or people. But we specialise in absorbing that understanding and doing a deep study of state-wide and AC wise (Assembly Constituency)
I-PACs iconic status comes from series of election victories
After I-PAC came into existence it has worked with parties and both established and new leaders, in their campaigns and forming governments with these Chief Ministers
I-PAC’s track record: Successful campaigns which installed 7 CMs in six years
Bihar 2015- Nitish Kumar (JD U)
Punjab 2017- Capt Amrinder Singh (Congress)
Andhra Pradesh 2019 – Jagan Reddy (YSR Cong)
Maharashtra 2019 – Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena)
New Delhi 2020 -Arvind Kejriwal (AAP)
Tamil Nadu 2021 – MK Stalin (DMK)
West Bengal 2021 – Mamata Banerjee (TMC)
Says a senior I-PAC director spearheading their Goa 2022 campaign “Our track record shows that we work professionally and scientifically for the party we are engaged by. And coming second is never an option. We are in it to win it for them and lay the foundation stone for good governance and we leave. We have absolutely no other stake beyond that”.
A news report on I-PAC’s role in the successful Tamil Nadu campaign for TMC, quoting an I-PAC source stated “50% it’s about understanding each and every issue that is going on here, understanding what is required in terms of solution. Every state is a different problem statement. 50% is getting to understand and that the leader is buying into our idea.”
In a state like Tamil Nadu, they had 700-800 core members spread across districts and an additional 2500-3000 volunteers.
Across all their campaign states, these volunteers under the guidance of core members become the foot soldiers in each constituency working for the party and the candidate.
Each voter contacted twice, in 100 days in the Bihar campaign
In the campaign for Nitish Kumar and the ‘mahagatbandhan’ in Bihar 2015, the “har ghar dastak (knock on every door) campaign ensured that every voter was personally contacted by the Nitish Kumar campaign team managed by I-PAC at least twice, in 100 days. And this is a state which is multiple times the size of Goa.
Candidates are picked on merit and scientifically
Team I-PAC explained that the party gets the best available information on the constituency and each of their shortlisted candidates before they zero in on one ensuring that all others have roles to play in the support of the chosen candidate.
And one of the criteria is to work with good clean people who are winnable. And the success in so many elections show it is possible.
The same method will be applied in Goa irrespective of whether the shortlisted candidate is a seasoned politician or a fresh new face
While winnability is a factor, what counts is a totally clean track record
I-PAC needs to maintain this process of selecting good clean people, which should be a template for the state’s polls
As the Goa campaign picks up, the manner in which I-PAC works will be closely watched and tracked both by students of politics as well as seasoned politicians. One thing is important. That only good clean faces should be picked to be representatives of the people. Because that is the kind of clean politics Goans want.
At the same time, Goa should look forward to witnessing the most scientific and professional election management in this current era of elections.
