Sunil Kanugolu: Former BJP worker, Congress' strategist for thumping Karnataka polls win

Karnataka Elections 2023: In the Karnataka assembly elections held on May 10, the Congress won 135 out of 224 seats, claiming a surprising victory. Congress came up with fresh tactics, refuted the BJP's narratives, and utilised corruption as its main election issue to take on the incumbent party. Credit for the state's likely formation of government belongs to party leaders, employees, and election strategist Sunil Kanugolu.

Sunil Kanugolu, who performed the same duties for the BJP in 2018, developed creative campaign methods and had a significant impact on the selection of candidates for Congress. The party's election management activities for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be led by Sunil Kanugolu.

About Sunil Kangolu, his past assignments and strategies that led to Karanatka's Congress winning elections:
Sunil Kanugolu(41) was born in the Ballari district of Karnataka, where he also finished middle school. According to The Quint, he later resided in Chennai before moving to Bengaluru.

Despite being a native Telugu speaker, Kanugolu has Karnataka roots and currently resides in Bengaluru, according to local media reports.

After working for the BJP, DMK, and AIADMK in the past, Mr Kanugolu joined the Congress last year after extensive discussions with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. According to a close friend of his, he did so primarily because he wanted to take on a challenge and work with a party that was close to the values he believes in. 

The team also includes well-known leaders like P Chidambaram, Mukul Wasnik, Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal, Ajay Maken, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Randeep Singh Surjewala in addition to Kanugolu.

As the president of the BJP's Association of Billion Minds (ABM), Sunil Kanugolu, who had previously collaborated with poll strategist Prashant Kishor, played a crucial role in Narendra Modi's election campaign in 2014. He was instrumental in the success of the BJP's election campaigns in Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, and Karnataka.

Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, a march that spanned more than 4,000 km from the southernmost point of India to Jammu and Kashmir, has also been linked to the poll strategist. The grand old party's use of the yatra is thought to have contributed to recent turning points in election results.

When his critics were quick to point out that "corruption was not a big issue in South India," Mr Kanugolu launched the "PayCM" campaign in Karnataka against the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government.

Instead of depending simply on contact centres to collect data, he insists on broad-field surveys, statistics, analytics, and the use of current technology to identify trends. 

(Also Read: Siddaramaiah vs DK Shivakumar: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge to take final call on Karnataka CM post)