In a quiet village by the sea in Mumbai, 120 men and women are back in the classroom to train for a job they have done for years. Personal assistants and personal secretaries to parliamentarians are almost politicians and have often gone on to become leaders in the past. Those working for BJP MPs, however, are currently sitting through lessons in ideology, efficiency and politics in an institute run by the BJP's mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS. The seven-day course will earn them a certificate in "political assistantship".
