Political parties are more than just an idea or a representation. They are full-fledged organizations of committed grassroot-level workers helping to build the party brick by brick. Many factors come into play in the rise and survival of a political party. In this book, various leaders and party workers from across party lines bring you insight stories about their associations with political parties, their role in electioneering and fundraising, their emotional investment and its toll on their personal and professional lives. Realpolitik: Exposing India’s Political System delves into the structure and hierarchy of political parties, political godfathers and dynasty politics. It examines the career roadmap of political workers, appeasement of marginalized groups for vote bank politics, tackling dissent, the play of power and money, and the setbacks when tall leaders desert the party.
A deeply fascinating read for people interested in the Indian political system and a ‘manual’ for those interested in a career in Indian politics.
Sen, Mamta Chitnis: - Mamta Chitnis Sen, artist and writer, has worked with publications such as Mid-Day, Society and The Sunday Guardian where she handled the political beat for Maharashtra. She headed Dignity Dialogue, India's foremost magazine exclusively for the 50-plus age group as Executive Editor. She was also the Secretary of the Mumbai Youth Congress from 2007 to 2010.
She has studied painting and ceramics at Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai, and was the Hon. Researcher for the art college involved in documenting the history of the institute. During her stint as a student at J. J., she founded Canvas Clan in 2011, a congregation of painters of various age groups and curated two group shows under the banner--Random Strokes and Resurrection Bihar; the latter was to commemorate centenary celebrations of Bihar state in Mumbai. She was felicitated by the Bihar government for the same.
Mamta was also the Consultant, Media Advocacy, Arts & Crafts and Exhibitions with the Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA) and was involved in community outreach programmes for the Bihari Diaspora. She handled Bihar Foundation's art gallery Zierou (which she founded) and organized art exhibitions, workshops and capacity training programmes aimed to promote art and culture in the state.
Women and their rights have been an integral part of her work both in writing and in art. An alumnus of S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai, where she studied Women Empowerment and Resource Mobilization, Mamta has hosted capacity training workshops for women from political parties as well as from the unorganized sector. She has authored a paper on these experiences titled 'Evolving Role of Women in Political Parties' and since 2012, has been documenting social crises through art. Her recent solo exhibitions on women farmers were at Jehangir Art Gallery and Ministry of External Affairs, Vilnius, Lithuania.
She volunteers with World Citizen Artists--a forum of international artists, musicians and writers, founded in Paris 2013 and was selected to create art for World Humanitarian Day and World Mandela Day. She has been invited by the Mayor of Bressuire in France to showcase her paintings in the city's eleventh-century castle and has exhibited her paintings in various art galleries in India and abroad. Her art has been published in international art journals and anthology such as Studio to Studio--The Artists' Working Theory and Practice and Les Femmes Folles: The Women 2016.
In 2018 she participated in a month-long art residency in Vilnius, Lithuania hosted by Sanskritik Mandala. The works created in the residency were showcased in Vilnius and then later travelled to Berlin, Germany. Her paintings are in private collections in India and countries such as Spain, South Africa, France, Morocco, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania and Belgium.
Since 2015, Mamta has been handling Media Advocacy for Child Rights and You (CRY)--an NGO working for the rights of underprivileged children in India.
Mamta also teaches Journalism and Communications for Development as a guest faculty at St. Xaviers Institute of Communications (XIC) in Mumbai. An avid traveller and writer, she regularly writes for several national and international publications.
