Political strategist Sunil Kanugolu’s Mindshare Analytics has been relieved of its major responsibilities with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). The decision was taken around 10 days ago, and it is learnt from reliable sources that the election strategist himself had made the recommendation, to which TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu conceded. However, a small core team, consisting of a fraction of the earlier team, will continue to work as advisory consultants to the former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister.
Sunil Kanugolu was roped in by the TDP in April this year, and his initial assignment was to do a detailed ground assessment and submit the findings to the party. It is being stated that the TDP already has a well-structured hierarchy, and Mindshare Analytics did not wish to build parallel structures within the party. However, the approach adopted by the consultancy was apparently not really in sync with that of the party’s. Hence, there was no clarity about the way ahead, which led to this decision.
Sunil wanted to move away from strategising the party’s day-to-day operations, and only advise the party on larger strategies. Mindshare Analytics is yet to work out the technicalities with TDP, and in the weeks that follow, the consultancy will decide about downsizing the present team and other details.
When asked about the rumours that Sunil decided to call off the deal owing to too much interference from the party, an insider in the know of things said, “Sunil has immense respect for Chandrababu Naidu and is always happy to spare time for the TDP. He is also interested in the state. The rumours about a bitter end to the deal is not true. It wasn’t a bad experience for either the TDP or Mindshare Analytics.”
“Naidu is happy with what the consultancy has done so far for the party, in terms of detailed surveys and assessment. Though relieved of major responsibilities, Sunil and a core team will continue to advise Naidu and suggest ideas and audits,” the source added.
Meanwhile, confirming to TNM that the deal has indeed ended, TDP National General Secretary and MLC Nara Lokesh said that Sunil was roped in as part of a task-based approach. “Sunil was brought in to build internal capacity, do a baseline assessment, and help identify our weaknesses. The engagement was to last only for around four to five months. He has completed the work assigned to him, and is hence moving on,” he said.
Chandrababu Naidu, who believes in a multi-pronged approach, has meanwhile hired more than one election strategist to work with the party. According to internal party sources, Naidu presently has nearly five consulting firms working on various aspects of the electioneering process. This includes Sunil’s Mindshare Analytics, Robin Sharma’s Showtime Consultancy, a data consulting company, a data survey company, and a tech company that works on artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Speaking about the multi-strategist approach of the TDP, Lokesh said, “Every person has their own strengths and weaknesses. We take into consideration each of their strengths and put together their findings and assessments for the betterment of the party and its activities.”
Sunil’s consultancy company is presently working for the Telangana Congress, and in the wake of the decision to move away from major responsibilities in Andhra Pradesh, it is likely that Mindshare Analytics will divert more resources and time to Telangana.
Sunil doesn’t have a WhatsApp image, and his decision to maintain a distance from the media means no one really knows anything about him, not even how he even looks. So much so that an insider says the image often used by the media isn’t that of Sunil’s, and is in fact his brother’s. Sunil, who has no online presence, is an elusive figure and prefers to remain behind the scenes, unlike his former colleague Prashant Kishor. The two had worked together in 2014 before parting ways. Sunil’s company was also hired by the Karnataka Congress ahead of the Karnataka state elections scheduled for next year.