Sunil Kanugolu, In The Chanakya Congress Now Trust (twitter.com/Anjan94150697)
Sunil Kanugolu, the architect behind Congress’s epic victory in Karnataka, known as “man of ideas.” Kanugolu, the low-profile strategist, keeps his cards close, rooted and firm. Kanugolu factor played in Karnataka activating party’s ground level political machinery, planning and effective execution of campaign strategies, spearheading ideas generating impact, setting and publicising the counternarratives, and also in aptly placing leaders into the face of these strategies.
Kanugolu strategies are data driven and detail-oriented; through in-depth field surveys, incorporating statistics and analytics, assessing trends via modern tools, and exercising feedback system’s assistance in selecting the candidates, he sets the campaign tone and action. Amidst all meticulous scientific evaluation, the core of Kanugolu’s campaign design lies in the the reliable, relatable, and rooted story. Therefore, in Karnataka, Congress focused on the corruption of the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government; the ‘Pay CM,’ and ‘40% sarkara’ campaigns set the party”s message straight, contributing the Congress a historic victory of 135 seats in Karnataka election.
The ‘Namakku Naame” (We are for Ourselves) campaign run in 2015 by associating with MK Stalin and DMK, and integrating Dravidian model and Tamil pride during the Jallikattu protests of 2017, for strengthening DMK’s fight against BJP are some other successful instances of Kanugolu’s strategies. Furthermore, he was a key player behind organising Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, a-year-long outreach programme led by Rahul Gandhi heavily enhanced Congress’s image and in connecting people at ground level.
As his team’s surveys connects with voters and their problems, Kanugolu establishes strong working relation with the leaders he associates; the understanding helps to place the ideas as bridge of rapport between them. He effervescently integrates the everyday ground problems with everyday political work.
Kanugolu’s introduction to election experience starts in working with poll strategist Prashant Kishor, for running Narendra Modi”s prime-ministerial election campaign 2014 and in leading BJP’s election campaign organization, the Association of Billion Minds (ABM). After that he was also part of many successful BJP campaigns such as in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, and Karnataka. Besides DMK, in 2021, he worked with AIADMK in Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
Congress hired Kanugolu in last March, and in two months he was selected as a member of the party’s 2024 Lok Sabha election task force. He currently heads Congress’s in-house election strategy team, INClusive Minds. Earlier, he founded the strategy and consultancy firm, MindShare Analytics.
Hailing from Ballari in Karnataka, his father is a Kannadiga and mother traces Telugu heritage. Kanugolu was brought up in Chennai, and holds postgraduate degree from New York University. He is a former McKinsey consultant, and currently resides in Bengaluru. In over a decade spanning career in political consultancy, he planned campaigns and strategies for at least 15 elections.
The upcoming elections in the states of Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh, are crucial for the architect of Congress” Karnataka victory, because he has to sustain the winning streak, and then the real litmus test waiting for him and the party, 2024 Lok Sabha election.
