Madhya Pradesh elections: Congress ropes in poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu

Kanugolu is currently spearheading the Congress' campaign in Karnataka, where Assembly polls will be held on May 10

Bhopal: The Congress has roped in poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu, a former associate of Prashant Kishor, to help it shape its campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, where the government led by the grand old party was ousted from power by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) three years back, a party functionary said.

Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh are scheduled by the end of this year.

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Kanugolu is currently spearheading the Congress‘ campaign in Karnataka, where Assembly polls will be held on May 10. After that election ends, he will focus on Madhya Pradesh and set up his office in the state, the party functionary said.

Kanugolu had earlier worked with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of the BJP’s campaign. Later he started strategising campaigns for the Congress. He even contributed to Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, he added.

“A professional strategist’s help comes handy in preparing for Assembly polls. Madhya Pradesh‘s intrinsic political situation, including caste equations, make the task more complicated. Perhaps the Congress should build its own election management mechanism,” senior journalist and a visiting fellow with the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Rasheed Kidwai, told PTI.

A Congress leader said Kanugolu will play a key role in shaping the party’s campaign and MP.

He had worked for the BJP in UP and is said to have played a key role in the resounding victory of Yogi Adityanath in 2017, party leaders said.

In the 2018 MP Assembly elections, the Congress had emerged as the largest party by winning 114 seats in the 230-member House, while the BJP won 109 seats.

The grand old party formed a coalition government under Kamal Nath. However, a rebellion by Jyotiradiya Scindia, an influential leader from the state, led to several Congress MLAs resigning from the party. They later joined the BJP, paving the way for Shivraj Singh Chouhan to return as chief minister.