Bengaluru: Poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu, among those credited with creating several of the Congress’ catchy campaigns in the runup to the 10 May Karnataka assembly elections which the party won with a thumping majority, looks all set to be appointed advisor to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, a source aware of the development told ThePrint.
Kanugolu joined the Congress last year.
The 41-year-old former head of the Association of Brilliant Minds (ABM) — the BJP’s campaign organisation — and now chief of political consultancy firm Inclusive Minds, is said to have also helped Siddaramaiah with branding and speech inputs before the Karnataka elections.
His expected appointment as advisor comes less than two weeks after Siddaramaiah took oath as Karnataka CM on 20 May.
“A proposal has been sent for him [Kanugolu] to be made the CM’s advisor,” said an aide of the chief minister, requesting anonymity. The person said that Siddaramaiah had directly asked for Kanugolu to be appointed to this position.
An official order formalising the appointment, along with a possible cabinet rank for the poll strategist, has been initiated, according to two people aware of the developments. While a purported copy of such an order is already doing the rounds of social media, it is yet to be shared by official channels.
Results of the Karnataka assembly elections were announced on 13 May and showed a clear majority for the Congress — with the party winning 135 of 224 seats, defeating the then-incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
While the victory was followed by a battle for the CM’s chair between Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar, the party high command was finally able to broker an agreement between the two, with Siddaramaiah taking oath as CM for the second time since 2013. Since then the Karnataka CM is said to have also secured cabinet berths for many in his camp.
ThePrint reached Kanugolu over phone and WhatsApp message for comment on his appointment, but received no response till the time of publication of this copy. ThePrint has also reached the chief minister’s office over phone for official comment on this, the copy will be updated once a response is received.
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From surveys to branding inputs
Kanugolu and Naresh Arora of Design Boxed, another poll management firm, were credited with several of the Congress’ catchy campaigns that set the poll narrative in Karnataka in the runup to the 10 May assembly elections.
One such campaign was ‘PayCM’ to highlight and corner the previous Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government on corruption allegations. The two were also credited with coming up with the slogan “40 percent sarkara” — believed to be an allusion to the “40% commission” row that erupted in April last year following the death of Belagavi-based contractor Santosh Patil. In a purported suicide note, Patil had accused former state minister and BJP leader K.S. Eshwarappa of demanding 40 per cent commission for a government project.
While Kanugolu and Arora are also said to have drafted the Congress’s poll promises in the run-up to the assembly elections, the former was also involved in holding pre-poll surveys for the Congress, sources told ThePrint.
Kanugolu’s team had carried out at least five surveys before the elections, to gauge support for the Congress, the sources added.
“He also helped Siddaramaiah in branding, research, speech pointers and inputs on political intelligence,” said the Siddaramaiah aide quoted above.
A former consultant at McKinsey, Kanugolu had earlier worked with fellow poll strategist Prashant Kishor, as a part of the Citizens for Accountable Governance initiative.
He joined the Congress in 2022 and Inclusive Minds (formerly Mindshare Analytics) now works exclusively for the Congress party.
Kanugolu and his team are also involved in planning the Congress campaign for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh assembly elections. The poll strategist was also made part of the party’s task force for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, set up by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
He was also made a member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) ahead of the party plenary in Chhattisgarh earlier this year.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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