"If you cross over, you will be the King; Yudhishthira,
the crown prince of Pandavas will stand behind you holding
the royal fan; Bhima will hold his great white umbrella; all
the Pandava allies will pay tribute and touch your feet,"
Krishna thus urges Karna while lobbying for the success of
the Pandavas in the forthcoming war. Indeed, Krishna begins
his lobbying by revealing the secret of Karna's royal birthof
his being the eldest son of Kunti. Of course, it is the nobility of
his character that Karna does not fall for it; nor does he
ever reveal this conversation to anyone as, of course, sought by
the parting Krishna.
Any wonder, if modern-day lobbying fades before Krishna's? Of course, that is not what matters most
now. What really matters is: What is this `lobbying' that is
today rocking India and Indian businesses wildly? And, how has
it become so deep-rooted in managing
human/business/political affairs for ages? Dictionary defines lobbying as "a form
of advocacy with the intention of influencing decisions made by the government by
individuals or more usually by lobby groups", which includes all attempts to influence
legislators and officials whether by other legislators, constituents, or organized
groups. And a `lobbyist' is a person who tries to
influence legislation on behalf of a special interest or a member of a lobby.
Pieter Bouwen, author of the paper, "A Comparative Study of Business Lobbying
in the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of Ministers," argues that
lobbying activities of business interests need to be conceived
as an exchange relation between two groupsprivate and
public actorsof interdependent organizations. He also avers, "It
is a mistake to regard business lobbying as a
unidirectional activity of private actors vis-à-vis the public institutions,
for the public institutions too need to interact because they
need close contacts with the private sector in order to fulfill
their institutional role."
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