India, Feb. 9 -- Political consulting has become a defining feature of India's electoral landscape. Campaign strategy, voter research, organisational design, digital mobilisation and narrative coherence are now recognised forms of political labour. This reflects a basic fact of mass democracy: Complex societies generate specialised political work. The question, therefore, is not whether political consulting belongs in India's democracy, but how it should be ethically and institutionally situated within it. The recent raids on the IPAC office in Kolkata have brought that question into sharper focus.

Political consulting develops in relation to political architecture. Presidential systems with long campaign cycles and expansive private fun...