Sunil Kanugolu
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YEAR-WISE DEVELOPMENTS
As in 2023 May
June 1, 2023: The Indian Express
The Congress relied heavily on micro-management in Karnataka, where it has crossed the halfway mark, with the central leadership identifying some 70-odd “touch-and-go” constituencies. And the strategist who helped the party shore up its plans was Sunil Kanugolu who was on the BJP’s side during the Assembly elections in 2018.
“We had done five surveys in the last eight months,” said a Congress leader. “The candidates, barring a few seats at the end, were primarily picked based on these surveys carried out by Sunil Kanugolu’s team. On the basis of those surveys, we identified 70-odd hot seats. Accordingly, we deputed AICC (All India Congress Committee), observers drawn from across the country, to each of these constituencies.”
Last May, then Congress president Sonia Gandhi named Kanugolu a member of the party’s 2024 Lok Sabha election task force that also features veteran leaders such as P Chidambaram, Mukul Wasnik, Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal, Ajay Maken, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Randeep Singh Surjewala, who was the AICC leader in charge of Karnataka.
Kanugolu became a part of the Congress set-up weeks after Kishor declined the party’s offer to join it. The strategist, who does not have any online presence, is a reclusive figure unlike Kishor and their modus operandi also differs considerably. The two worked together in 2014 before parting ways.
After parting ways with Kishor and striking out on his own, Kanugolu make a comeback by designing DMK chief and current Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s “Namakku Naame” campaign ahead of the 2016 Assembly polls. Though it was a success and elevated Stalin’s public image, the DMK failed to win as a third front split the votes and helped the AIADMK retain power. As a Congress leader put it, “The DMK lost but Stalin emerged as a leader.”
Following the stint in Tamil Nadu, Kanugolu worked closely with Amit Shah in Delhi till February 2018. He shaped successful campaigns for the BJP, including in the state elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Karnataka, with the help of a team of 300 people.
Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the political operative returned to the DMK camp and helped the United Progressive Alliance win 38 of the state’s 39 parliamentary constituencies.
But he parted ways with the party before the 2021 Assembly elections after Stalin sought Kishor’s help. He switched sides and advised the AIADMK but could not stop it from getting ousted from power. The same year, the Congress hired the services of Kanugolu’s company Mindshare Analytics for Karnataka after Sonia and Rahul Gandhi held a meeting with him. A person who knows Kanugolu said that “he knows his limits, he never tries to patronise or overpower his clients, neither does he take credit nor does he flaunt his connections”.
One of the reasons why the Congress hired the poll strategist was that he is low profile. “Even the photograph circulating on social media as that of his (Kanugolu) is of his brother,” a Congress leader told The Indian Express. “So, you can understand his style of functioning. He prefers to remain in the background. My impression is that he does not impose his views and ideas on the party. Every party has its strengths and weaknesses. Every party is different in the way it functions. He understands that and tries to work with the party.”
