Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 24: In a bid to mollify the dissidents who had sounded rebellion against the top leadership in the party, the Congress national president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday announced formation of a nine-member Political Affairs Group (PAG) and a Task Force for the 2024 Parliamentary elections.
The PAG which would partly satisfy the demands of the rebels known as G-23, would include the former Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, who had led the group of rebels demanding elections for the party’s top posts, his deputy Anand Sharma, former poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu and others. A nine-member central planning committee for the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, beginning on October 2 from Kanyakumari, has also been constituted.
All these panels are a follow-up of the announcements made by Ms. Gandhi in her concluding address of the three-day “Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir” which concluded in Udaipur on May 15.
The presence of Azad and Sharma in the PAG committee is significant as both are members of the G-23, the ginger group pushing for internal reforms. Amidst G-23 demands for the restoration of the Congress Parliamentary Board for collective decision-making, the PAG is a compromise to partially accommodate this demand. While announcing it on May 15, Ms. Gandhi had made it clear that the “new group is not a collective decision-making body but will help me get the benefit of the vast experience of senior colleagues.”
Other members of this group include former party chief Rahul Gandhi, Gandhi family loyalists like Mallikarjun Kharge, Ambika Soni, Digvijaya Singh, K.C. Venugopal and Jitendra Singh. Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram is heading the Task Force that includes party strategist Jairam Ramesh, Mukul Wasnik, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Ajay Maken, Randeep Surjewala and former poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu.
A name that stood out in Ms Gandhi’s list was that of Kanugolu who figures in both the prime committees. A former aide of poll strategist Prashant Kishor, who after prolonged negotiations refused to take up the responsibility of the Congress, Kanugolu is currently handling poll management in Karnataka and Telangana, both States that go to polls next year. Unlike Kishor, he is known to keep a low profile.
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh will head the ‘Bharat Jodo yatra’ planning committee that will also include members like Sachin Pilot, Shashi Tharoor and Ravneet Singh Bittu. The yatra is a major attempt by the Congress to reconnect with the masses and is expected to cover 3,500 km across 12 States over five to six months.
Kanugolu’s entry into the Congress set-up comes weeks after Prashant Kishor declined the party’s offer to join it. At the time, sources had said that Kishor, popularly known as PK, turned down the Congress after it refused to give him a “free hand” while Kishor said the party required “leadership and collective will to fix the deep-rooted structural problems through transformational reforms”.
Asked whether Kanugolu had joined the party, Surjewala said, “Yes, he is a member of the Congress party.” Kanugolu, who does not have any online presence, is an elusive figure, unlike Kishor, and their modus operandi also differs considerably. The two worked together in 2014 before parting ways. Earlier this year, the Congress hired the services of Kanugolu’s company Mindshare Analytics for the Karnataka Assembly elections scheduled next year. Colleagues closed to Kanugolu said, “he knows his limits, he never tries to patronise or overpower his clients, neither does he take credit nor does he flaunt his connections.”
The poll strategist’s low profile caught the attention of the Congress, which saw its engagement with Kishor turn into a public spectacle for 10 days last month. “Even the photograph circulating on social media as that of his (Kanugolu) is of his brother,” a Congress leader said. “So, you can understand his style of functioning. He prefers to remain in the background. My impression is that he does not impose his views and ideas on the party. Every party has its strengths and weaknesses. Every party is different in the way it functions. He understands that and tries to work with the party.”
After parting ways with Kishor and striking out on his own, Kanugolu returned to the political mainstream by designing DMK chief and current Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s “Namakku Naame” campaign ahead of the 2016 Assembly polls. Though the campaign was successful and elevated Stalin’s public image, the DMK failed to win as a third front split the votes and helped the AIADMK retain power despite a strong anti-incumbency factor. As a Congress leader put it, “The DMK lost but Stalin emerged as a leader.”
Someone who worked with the political consultant during his time with the DMK pointed out another difference between him and Kishor. “Unlike Kishor, Sunil builds a team drawn from the party and that remains intact even after polls.”
Following the stint in Tamil Nadu, Kanugolu worked closely with Amit Shah in Delhi till February 2018. He shaped successful campaigns for the BJP including in the state elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Karnataka, with the help of a team of 300 people.
Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the political operative returned to the DMK camp and helped the United Progressive Alliance win 38 of the state’s 39 parliamentary constituencies.
But he parted ways with the DMK before last year’s Assembly elections after Stalin sought Kishor’s help. “We suggested that he work with Kishor but it was not acceptable to Sunil,” said a senior DMK leader. “Later, we realised that Kishor also wouldn’t have agreed to work with Sunil.”
The election strategist switched sides and advised the AIADMK but could not stop it from getting ousted from power. A person who knows Kanugolu said, “I assume that his relationship with DMK is not great, may not even be in talking terms.” Last year, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi had met Kanugolu around the same time they reportedly held talks with Kishor. In the end, they chose Mindshare Analytics for the Karnataka campaign. Now, Kanugolu has again come out on top at Kishor’s expense.