Sunil Kanugolu tastes two successes within a year

As the euphoric Congress celebrated its hard-won victory in style, one man was smiling with smug satisfaction all by himself. This man, without the customary politician's attire, the party scarf, Gandhi cap and the Nehru coat, is none other than the party's unassuming poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu.

This Bellary-born Telugu man has succeeded in bringing Congress Party back to power in two states within a span of six months – first in Karnataka and then in Telangana. It was Sunil Kanugolu's day after all and he celebrated his success is a quiet way.

Kanugolu studied the ground situation hard, developed a strategy for the party in Telangana. He identified the lacunae in the Congress and found out the strengths. He exploited the people's disenchantment with the BRS government and KCR's ways.

He came up with innovative campaigns like the Eddelu Karnataka in Karnataka and Bharat Jodi Forum in Telangana to bring NGOs, social activists, woke and Left supporters closer to Congress. He came up with the Bharat Jodi campaign to get an image makeover for Rahul Gandhi .

What more? He came up with catchy slogans like "Marpu Kavali – Congress Ravali" and 'Bye Bye KCR', which became extremely popular. His social media content too has become a rage among the pubic at large.

The Congress party was greatly benefited by his strategies. He also ensured that the media wing also functioned quite effectively. The party's media wing came up with campaigns like 30 days and 30 issues, which became a hit among the general public. In fact, most of his campaign strategies were taken from the successful Karnataka model.

Kanugolu, who worked initially with Prashant Kishor, came into his own later and started his own election consulting company. He tied up with the Congress Party and created a positive impact on Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra.

Revanth Reddy acted in tandem with Kanugolu in formulating his strategies to defeat KCR. As the Congress was savouring its success, Sunil Kanugolu began planning for the all-important battle of 2024, where he has to take on the might of Narendra Modi.