India ended its contract with the lobbying firm Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Field in November, the Indian embassy confirmed, and already several firms are jockeying to get the contract.

Speculation has been rife that New Delhi dumped Akin Gump because it had not done enough to prevent the revival of the issue of sales of F-16 aircraft to Pakistan in the last several weeks. The Indian embassy countered, saying the F-16s were not the reason for ending the contract, but rather that the Nov. 2 elections presented the option of starting afresh.

Last April, India dumped the lobbying firm Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand (acquired by Piper Rudnick) and replaced it with Akin Gump, ostensibly to have better leverage with a rising Republican power on the Capitol. Now that Republicans are even more entrenched on the Capitol, questions are rising as to why the contract has been abruptly ended.

Till 1993, India did not have a formal lobbying firm in Washington, leaving the work to astute political strategist and one-man lobbying giant Janaki Ganju, a friend of the Nehru

family.

In 1993, in the face of rising Pakistani visibility and success with lobbying, New Delhi finally succumbed to Washington culture and then during the ambassadorship of Siddhartha Shankar Ray, India hired Springer, Rafaelli, Spees and Smith. In 1998, the country hired a host of firms including ACG (American Continental Group), APCO of former Congressman Stephen Solarz (D-NY) and Vernon Liipfert, all to counter the negative publicity emanating from the nuclear tests.

In 1999, India retained two firms, Vernon Liipfert and APCO. A year later, India let go APCO and kept just Vernon Liipfert.

According to sources in Washington, having India as a client is not very attractive to lobbyists either.

“The Indian embassy has a horrible reputation,” one insider told News India-Times. “It is seen as a difficult client. They don’t know what they want, they drag on proposals taking 6 to 7 months to clear any, and it ends up scaring firms.”

But several companies are vying right now for the Indian contract, including Piper Rudnick which last year acquired Vernon Liipfert, and Hogan & Hartson.

It needs money to move Washington in any direction, evident by the $4-billion spent in the latest Presidential elections and the millions other countries like China and Pakistan spend on the Hill to maneuver things their way. By some accounts, China has spent an estimated $50 million a year to get some of the powerful Washington lobbyists like Hill and Knowlton, Jones, Day and others to make its case. In 2000, the lobbying industry was valued at $1.4 billion by the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-profit Washington group.

According to press reports, India continues its contract with Ed von Kloberg’s Washington World Group at $20,000 a month to place pro-India articles in the American press.