The Guru-Sishya Face-Off
‘Vetri Nadai Podum Thamizhagame‘ and ‘Stalin Than Varaaru‘ , the two songs which have been playing relentlessly on TV, radio, YouTube and thereby in people’s heads have come to an end. Though songs for the party and leaders have been part of the political landscape in Tamil Nadu, the recently concluded elections saw a high pitched social media and brand building exercise for Edappadi K. Palaniswami and MK Stalin through ads which were crafted and executed by two people – Sunil Kanugolu’s Mindshare Analytics for the AIADMK and Prashant Kishor’s I-PAC for the DMK. Political observers tracking Tamil Nadu politics saw this as an election not just between the AIADMK and the DMK but as a face-off between Prashant Kishor and Sunil Kanugolu working to decide the fate of Tamil Nadu for the next five years.
Colleagues turned competitors
Prasanth Kishore and Sunil once worked in different places in the United States. There was a good understanding between the two then. Prashant Kishore came to Gujarat in 2011 to work on a state government project in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO).
Growing up close to the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Kishor entered the field as a strategist for Modi’s victory in the 2012 Gujarat elections. Prashant Kishor established the Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG), a media and publicity company in preparation for the May 2014 Parliament elections. Through this, he slowly built up the image of Modi as the ‘next prime minister’. At that time, Sunil Kanugolu was part of Kishor’s team and working under him.
After 2014, Kishor parted ways with Modi and converted CAG into Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC). I-PAC went on to be the campaign vehicle for different Assembly elections – Bihar (2015), Punjab (2017), Uttar Pradesh (2017), Andhra Pradesh (2019), Delhi (2020), Bihar (2020). With victories in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi. With series of victories to his credit, every political party wanted to have him on their side.
Sunil’s tryst with DMK
Sunil Kanugolu left I-PAC in 2015 due to a disagreement with Prashant Kishor. Upon learning this, Stalin’s son-in-law Sabareesan, brought Sunil to Tamil Nadu. He became the campaign strategist for the DMK during the 2016 Assembly Elections and devised electoral programmes that appealed to the masses for MK Stalin under ‘Namakku Naame’ banner. An entity named ‘OMG’ which was started by him had Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and Sabareesan as the other directors. Sunil’s campaign strategies made even late AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa take notice.
Although Stalin was not able to win the 2016 election, the DMK did not abandon Sunil. He was engaged for the 2019 Parliament elections in which DMK pulled off a clean sweep. However, after the 2019 victory, differences between Sabareesan and Sunil and emerged and by November 2019, Sunil’s ‘OMG’ bid adieu to the DMK.
Enter I-PAC
I-PAC was in the early stages of negotiating a deal with Kamal for 2021 Assembly Elections. Knowing this, Sabareesan approached Prashant Kishor. Prashant Kishor thought that working for DMK would give more success than Kamal and immediately sealed the deal.
News broke that an agreement worth ₹350 crore had been signed between DMK and ‘I-PAC’. For the DMK leaders who have been accustomed to visiting the field relying only on the cadres so far, the deal with I-PAC caused dissatisfaction.
Nearly 200 people have been working day and night at I-PAC’s office in Teynampet, Chennai. They had employed more than 500 field staff to collect data from all districts of Tamil Nadu. It is said that I-PAC interfered in all the domains – right from where to organize the crowd to candidate selection much to the discontentment of several leaders.
Sunil and AIADMK
Sunil, who had left the DMK, sided with Mithun, the son of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami. His ‘Mindshare Analytics’ company officially entered the field in February 2020 to help in evolving campaigns for AIADMK victory with a ₹100 crore deal.
But a section of the AIADMK were uncomfortable with Sunil who had been elemental in Stalin’s campaigns earlier. These concerns had reached Sunil’s ears who assured the AIADMK that he would never violate the terms and conditions mentioned in the ‘non-disclosure agreement’. Mithun who was very much focused on making his father Chief Minister once again did not want to pay much heed to it.
PK interfered at the ground level, SK dealt matters at leadership level
While Prashant Kishor’s I-PAC directly interfered with the political affairs of the entire party structure issuing orders down till the cadre level, Sunil Kanugolu dealt only with the party leadership. The DMK cadres did exactly what was told to them by I-PAC. But Sunil got things done at the ground level through Palaniswami himself as AIADMK cadre were skeptical about Sunil’s previous association with the DMK.
Like I-PAC, Sunil’s team at Mindshare were also involved in candidate selection process. It was reported that some of the candidates recommended by O. Panneerselvam were denied seats citing various reasons which had angered him. The list was later amended by including some of the names suggested by O. Panneerselvam. According to an AIADMK source, the Deputy Chief Minister had directly expressed his disappointment to the Chief Minister about Sunil’s interference in candidate selection. But Deputy CM Panneerselvam did not give an opportunity for any cracks in the leadership with the elections coming close.
Sunil’s team
Sunil has some people with him who had earlier worked with him in I-PAC working out of the office near the ‘News J’ office in Nungambakkam, Chennai. Although not as big as I-PAC, Mindshare employs about 100 people. Sunil also receives inputs from Jaffar Sait, a senior police officer and Satyamurthy, a former intelligence officer. Because of his I-PAC connection, some of the AIADMK circles have been distrustful especially after reports about the DMK chief receiving information about the government’s moves.
Was Sunil behind Sasikala’s move to stay away and Rajini’s decision to quit politics?
Realizing that it would not be good for the AIADMK if there existed two power centres within the party, it is said that Sunil had tactically stirred up the debate on Edappadi K. Palaniswami being projected as the next chief ministerial candidate for AIADMK.
Despite Ministers like S.P. Velumani, P. Thangamani holding the view that including the Sasikala was needed to strengthen the party and retain power, Palaniswami is said to have not accept the idea.
Not just that, even Rajinikanth quitting politics is being spoken of as Sunil’s calculations as Rajini’s entry would have eaten into the vote bank of AIADMK and the BJP.
Sunil, the Sishya upping the game against his Guru
Though Sunil has been in the game for a while, the 2021 Assembly Elections seems to have brought out the best in him. His master stroke on April 4 by publishing DMK’s atrocities in leading Tamil and English dailies in Tamil Nadu caught the DMK unaware.
If the AIADMK pulls off a victory, Sunil will be celebrated as the disciple who surpassed the Guru. We will know if ‘Stalin is coming’ or ‘Tamizhagm will continue its victory march’ on May 2.
(With inputs from Hindu Tamil)
