IPAC, formerly led by Prasanth Kishor and now working with YSRCP, is reportedly assisting BRS in the November 30 Assembly elections.
Published Nov 23, 2023 | 3:46 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 23, 2023 | 4:08 PM
BRS chief KCR, Former consultancy Prasanth Kishore and YSRCP chief and Andhra CM YS Jagan.
Is the Indian Political Action Committee — or I-PAC — helping the BRS in the Telangana Assembly elections 2023?
While Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s party has not hired I-PAC for poll management or consultancy, reports of the firm — founded by ace political strategist Prashant Kishor — helping BRS are all the buzz ahead of 30 November polling day in Telangana.
The political consultancy firm has been working for several parties across India, including the YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh.
The murmurs about I-PAC helping BRS stem from the close friendship that KCR and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Jagan Mohan Reddy share, and the possible impact the Telangana poll outcome will have on Andhra Pradesh that is going to polls next year.
A meeting between representatives of the BRS and I-PAC weeks ago, too, has added to the speculation.
While sources in I-PAC vehemently denied having anything to do with BRS in Telangana, sources in the party told South First that the consultancy’s Andhra unit, which works for Jagan Mohan Reddy, has been providing inputs and feedback on the upcoming Assembly polls.
“The I-PAC unit working for the YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh has assisted us with overview and inputs, but we have not hired I-PAC to strategise for us,” a BRS source told South First.
The source added that inputs from I-PAC suggest a comfortable win for BRS in the 30 November election.
The BRS sources acknowledged that weeks ago a meeting had taken place between I-PAC representatives and a senior member of BRS’ election management team.
“There was no reason to bring them on board as strategists since our plans and timelines were already on track,” the source said.
Meanwhile, the I-PAC refuted other reports of Kishor meeting KCR and KT Rama Rao this week. Terming the reports speculative, it said the poll strategist is in Bihar.
Incidentally, the BRS had roped in I-PAC for the Telangana elections but decided to discontinue its association after its Munugode by-election victory in 2022.
The decision was influenced by KCR’s desire to engage with I-PAC at the national level. However, his plan conflicted with the interests of Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC), to which the consultancy had already committed to work with.
However, the I-PAC-YSRCP association has been going strong for a second election in 2024.
The camaraderie between the BRS and YRSCP blossomed when the TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu rode into the Telangana electoral battlefield and campaigned for the Congress in 2018.
The adage, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” seems to have played a role in the undeclared “alliance” between the BRS and YSRCP, both in power in the two Telugu states.
Another source from BRS said: “After the Telangana project got cancelled, I-PAC made attempts to resume it with the BRS. However, the BRS top brass felt the I-PAC had nothing new to add to the existing party strategy.”
“The BRS has drafted in a decent number of former I-PAC employees, now working directly for the party. I-PAC approached with the proposal for a formal alliance even a month ago, but it was turned down,” the source added.
I-PAC, founded in 2013 by a group of like-minded professionals led by Kishor, played a significant role in various political campaigns.
It worked for the Narendra Modi-led BJP in the 2014 Parliament elections, the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) in the 2015 Bihar elections, the Congress-led by Amarinder Singh in Punjab in 2017, Rahul Gandhi in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh elections, the 2019 elections in Andhra Pradesh for YSRCP, the 2021 elections for Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, and MK Stalin’s DMK in the 2021 Tamil Nadu elections.
Barring Uttar Pradesh, the firm was successful in all other elections.
Subsequently, Kishor worked for TMC, getting on board just a month before the 2022 polls in Goa. The goal was securing more than six percent of the votes, which would have aligned with the TMC’s ambition to establish itself as a national party, and challenge the BJP.
However, the TMC was left out in the cold in Goa with just 5.21 percent of the vote share.
Later, Kishor quit the consultancy agency and embarked on a padayatra, Jan Suraaj, in Bihar in 2022. The padayatra was announced after he was ousted from the Janata Dal (United), over his opposition to some of Nitish Kumar’s decisions.
Interestingly, political consultancy Inclusive Minds led by Sunil Kanugolu — a former aide of Kishor — worked for the Congress in Karnataka and is currently working in Telangana. Robin Sharma, another former aide of Kishor, is now working for the TDP in Andhra Pradesh.
“However, Kishor has remained with the I-PAC and is lending his hand and inputs to the Andhra Pradesh project. “The I-PAC is also working for Kishor’s padayatra in Bihar,” an I-PAC employee said.
