India National Congress decisively defeated the BJP in Telangana. Leading in over 66 seats in the state, Congress is paving its path to a historic victory in the Telangana assembly elections 2023, ousting the government of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS).
Rahul Gandhi, the head of the Congress states this win as the victory of the poor over crony capitalists. However, political strategist Sunil Kanugolu, often known as the "man of ideas," is the brains behind Congress' success. According to reports, he will now take the reins of the party's electoral management initiatives for the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
तेलंगाना की जनता ने इतिहास रचते हुए कांग्रेस पार्टी के पक्ष में जनादेश दिया है। यह प्रजाला तेलंगाना की जीत है। यह प्रदेश की जनता और कांग्रेस पार्टी के एक-एक कार्यकर्ता की जीत है।
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) December 3, 2023
तेलंगाना की जनता को तह-ए-दिल से धन्यवाद।कांग्रेस पार्टी तेलंगाना में शांति, समृद्धि और प्रगति के…
मध्य प्रदेश, छत्तीसगढ़ और राजस्थान का जनादेश हम विनम्रतापूर्वक स्वीकार करते हैं - विचारधारा की लड़ाई जारी रहेगी।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 3, 2023
तेलंगाना के लोगों को मेरा बहुत धन्यवाद - प्रजालु तेलंगाना बनाने का वादा हम ज़रूर पूरा करेंगे।
सभी कार्यकर्ताओं को उनकी मेहनत और समर्थन के लिए दिल से शुक्रिया।
मध्य प्रदेश, छत्तीसगढ़ और राजस्थान का जनादेश हम विनम्रतापूर्वक स्वीकार करते हैं - विचारधारा की लड़ाई जारी रहेगी।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 3, 2023
तेलंगाना के लोगों को मेरा बहुत धन्यवाद - प्रजालु तेलंगाना बनाने का वादा हम ज़रूर पूरा करेंगे।
सभी कार्यकर्ताओं को उनकी मेहनत और समर्थन के लिए दिल से शुक्रिया।
Who is Sunil Kanugolu?
Sunil Kanugolu was born in Karnataka's Ballari district. He spent his early days here and then relocated to Chennai before moving to Bengaluru, according to The Quint. According to a Congress insider who spoke to NDTV during the Karnatak Election, "Kanugolu's greatest asset is his capacity to develop close relationships with the party's key leaders. "He has a quiet yet forceful personality. Politicians regard him greatly because of his low-key profile, sincerity, and data-oriented field surveys."
Sunil Kanugolu was formerly a member of Prashant Kishor's team, which played an important role in the 2014 election campaign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Additionally, he also played a crucial role in the BJP's successful election campaigns in a number of states, including Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, and Karnataka.
He has also worked for DMK and AIADMK. According to local media, he was also responsible for the Dravidian model and elements of Tamil pride during the Jallikattu demonstrations of 2017, supporting the DMK in its fight against the aggressive BJP.
The Association of Brilliant Minds (ABM), which served as the BJP's campaign organisation for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh elections, was created by Kanugolu. According to party sources, he is known to have worked for the BJP in UP and is thought to have been vital to the party's overwhelming victory in the 2017 elections.
Sunil Kanugolu with Congress
On April 26 of last year, Prashant Kishor turned down the Congress' proposal to join the party, and Sunil Kanugolu was hired to assist with the party's election strategy for several elections around India. He was on board in May of last year to be part of Task Force 2024, including P Chidambaram, Mukul Wasnik, Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal, Ajay Maken, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Randeep Singh Surjewala to carry out the Nav Sankalp (New Resolution) declaration that was adopted in Udaipur.
Kanugolu was responsible for organizing a significant portion of the Bharat Jodo Yatra and is well-known for being a close advisor to senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The poll strategist has previously worked for BJP, DMK, and AIADMK before joining Congress.
At present, the Congress party's political strategist, Sunil Kanugolu, who played a crucial role in the party's election campaigns, has been promoted to Chief Advisor to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
What was his strategy for Karnataka Elections?
Party leaders claim that Kanugolu, who is generally quiet and remains backstage, created a plan for each Assembly seat in the southern state. Kanugolu was given full authority in Telangana to carry out internal services and put his plans into action, according to sources that the Indian Express cited. In Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, where politicians like Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath were allegedly against his methods, the campaign strategist was not granted this flexibility.
Following his outstanding contribution in the Karnataka assembly election, Kanugolu was a pivotal part of the Telangana election.
Since Telangana's establishment in 2014, this is the first occasion that BRS lost an election. For the first time since 2014, K Chandrashekar Rao would relinquish his position as chief minister, and Congressman Revanth Reddy is anticipated to replace him.
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