The Congress seems to be heading for a victory in Telangana, unseating the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) for the first time since the inception of the state in 2014.
The victory has one common factor with the recent thumping triumph of the party in Karnataka – poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu. Sources said that the strategist was given a free hand by the Congress in the state, unlike in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, where leaders like Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath were not believed to be on board with his internal surveys.
“In Telangana, we were given a free hand. We worked on our internal surveys and acted accordingly. This is in no way to say that party leaders did not contribute to the victory. They always patiently heard us and heeded to our advice,” a senior member of Kanugolu’s firm said, requesting anonymity.
Kanugolu’s team, ahead of the Rajasthan elections, had made an assessment, based on which the Congress leadership was keen to deny tickets to those candidates who have little or no chance of winning. However, Gehlot reportedly said that he knew the state better than the strategists. In fact, Gehlot’s campaign was largely managed by another political consultancy, DesignBoxed.
Another member of Kanugolu’s firm said the unbiased nature of the internal surveys conducted by them was the main reason behind the success in Telangana. “There was no interference from the higher-ups or from the party. Also, there was no pressure to put out biased reports in favour of the party. If the ground reality suggested a tough fight, we had the freedom to clearly tell the party this. This helped bring about constructive discussions,” she said.
Earlier, Kanugolu, who started out with Prashant Kishor’s I-PAC, helped steer the Congress’s campaign in Karnataka, for which he was accorded Cabinet rank in the Siddaramaiah government.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First published on: 03-12-2023 at 13:32 IST
