A study on the role of Public Relation in Indian Politics

Abstract
The theory and connotation of public relations is always in distinction of other departments such as
marketing, managements and journalism. Political PR is the field which focuses on political bodies,
government and politicians. It is analogous with political marketing and political relations and is a
mechanism for development of communication for both internal and external public. Today, the
achievement of any political party depends totally upon the way of communication between the party
members and the general public. PR is now an important tool for the political organization to leverage
task and communicate with both internal and external public. The most important task PR does is, it helps
receive and record information gathered from public to political organization. It is the duty of the media
to inform public about the government structure, similarly it is the duty of the PR to inform the politicians
about public opinion. Media management and information management are two most vital activities of
the political PR. PR is the statutory activity used for the purpose of explaining official politics to general
public and politicians in the communication process. India being the largest democratic country in the
world has the multiparty system which demands a political party to be able to keep up with their
constituents. Thus, political parties are promptly using several means of communication to accomplish
their plans in order to win political power. In India, the structure of Public Relation has been liberated
from England. Post First World War a Central Bureau of Information (CBI) was set up for press publicity
and propaganda. That was the first time when the idea of promotion came into play in India. The credit
for the ruling party’s rock-fall victory in 2014 was given to its PR, marketing and branding campaign.
The media agencies which handled these campaigns were Ogilvy and Mather, Soho Square and Madison
World. It was certainly the first time when the importance of advertisement and Public Relations in the
Indian Politics came into limelight. Several PR campaigns like ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ and ‘Mann Ki Baat’,
the government through which highlights what it is doing for its citizens, talks about the governance and
also seeks feedback from the general public to improve.

The following paper analyzes the role of Public relation in Indian Politics and how it influences polices of
the government and as well as of its opposition, per se. The paper also aims to highlight the connection
between politics, media and public, in addition to the old and new trends and mechanism used in Political
Public relations.

Keywords: Politics, Public Relations, Propaganda, Policies, Government, Communication.

Rimita Bhattacharjee, BMS 6th Semester

George College

Roll Number: 13303817021