The Congress backroom duo who helped score winning goal against BJP in Karnataka

While local issues were at the core of the Congress campaign, the backroom boys gave the party an edge. Consultant Sunil Kanugolu and AICC war room in-charge Sasikanth Senthil drove the campaign that, for the first time in the past few years, swayed public opinion in Congress’ favour.

Former IAS officer Senthil, 44, managed the party coordination and handled the online and offline social media campaigns with a 40-member team.

Kanugolu — a protégé of poll strategist Prashant Kishor — and his group of around 50 under the Mindshare logo provided creative inputs to ensure the campaigns were mind-stickers for Kannadigas. The PayCM campaign was one example of the coordination between the duo.


“After taking charge of the war room eight months ago, we devised narratives to target BJP. While corruption was the biggest issue, we got a boost from a civil contractor’s complaint in which he alleged a 40% commission for all government works. Kanugolu came up with an idea to drive home the point,” said Senthil.

“What matters for a campaign is clarity in narrative. We had that from Day 1. More importantly, any campaign needs complete support from theleadership. From Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala to KPCC chief DK Shivakumar and CLP leader Siddaramaiah, the brass appreciated our efforts,” said Senthil.

Meanwhile, Kanugolu is invested in Congress’ future and is said to be aiming as high as Kishor. The buzz now is that the duo may customise the Karnataka strategy for the Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, MP and Telangana polls later this year.