Kanugolu played a major role in shaping the Congress’ victory in Karnataka and was later given Cabinet rank in the Siddaramaiah government.
Congress emerged victorious on Sunday, winning 64 Assembly seats to form the government in BRS-dominated Telangana out of the 119-member assembly. The party had previously made a strong comeback in Karnataka in May of last year. This year, the Congress’ success was led by Sunil Kanugolu. But who is he?
Sunil Kanugolu is a poll strategist who orchestrated the Congress’ impressive turnaround in Telangana shortly after leading the grand old party’s return to power in Karnataka. Kanugolu was widely recognized for shaping the Congress’ victory in Karnataka and was later given Cabinet rank in the Siddaramaiah government.
This time, Kanugolu, along with PCC chief A Revanth Reddy, formed a formidable team to strategize the Congress’ plan to overthrow the K Chandrashekhar Rao-led BRS government, which was seeking a third term in the southern state.
Kanugolu had also been involved in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh following instructions from the party’s central leadership, but regional leaders Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath reportedly did not agree with the poll strategist.
Prior to the Rajasthan elections, Kanugolu had assessed the potential candidates but Gehlot reportedly did not agree with his suggestions and brought in Naresh Arora’s Designboxed to shape the Congress government’s narrative leading up to the assembly polls.
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Sources say that Kanugolu’s success in Karnataka and Telangana was the result of the freedom given to him and allowing his team to work independently. Kanugolu, who is from Karnataka and in his early 40s, has been largely credited as the mastermind behind the Congress’ narrative in Karnataka with the ‘PayCM’ campaign against the BJP. In the lead-up to the Telangana polls, he highlighted the alleged corruption of the K Chandrashekhar Rao administration as part of Congress’ campaign, which resonated with the people.
The Congress campaigns in Karnataka and Telangana have been quite similar, both highlighting the alleged corruption of the ruling administration and emphasizing welfare guarantees that connected with the public.
Interestingly, Kanugolu has also been involved in several BJP poll campaigns in the past. In 2018, he worked with the BJP in Karnataka, helping the party become the single largest party with 104 seats.
He had also worked on Narendra Modi’s campaign in 2014, as well as the party’s political campaigns in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
Kanugolu, a former consultant with McKinsey, was also associated with DMK chief MK Stalin and oversaw the party’s ‘Namakku Naame’ (we are for ourselves) campaign during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In 2021, he also worked with AIADMK against the DMK and led the party to win 75 seats in the Tamil Nadu assembly elections. Kanugolu had joined the Congress last year and worked closely with the Karnataka campaign.
He is also credited with strategizing Rahul Gandhi’s cross-country ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ from Kanyakumari to Kashmir last year. Having delivered Karnataka and Telangana to the Congress, Kanugolu is likely to be given more responsibilities by the party in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.