Sunil Kanugolu – the strategist credited with orchestrating the Congress’ wins in Karnataka and Telangana – will not be part of its campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Earlier part of the Congress’ ‘Task Force 2024’, he will now focus on its Haryana and Maharashtra campaigns, sources told NDTV Friday.

Mr Kanugolu is the second high-profile poll mastermind who will not be associated with the party’s general election prep, after Prashant Kishor, two years, ago, walked out of negotiations.

Mr Kanugolu’s redeployment has been attributed to the fact he already has teams in place in those two states – both of which vote this year – and to a Congress keen to build on last year’s victories in the Karnataka and Telangana, recording big wins over the ruling BJP and BRS, respectively. 

However, news the Congress’ key poll tactician will not be on hand to guide the party in the April/May national election has raised eyebrows. A senior leader, holding the rank of General Secretary, acknowledged his absence on the Lok Sabha campaign is a “slight setback”, but told NDTV the Congress believes there is greater long-term benefit if he can use his ‘Midas touch’, to win key states from the BJP.

Mr Kanugolu, sources added, will also continue to work with the Congress’ governments in Karnataka, where he his now Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s primary advisor, with a cabinet rank, and Telangana, where he ousted ex-Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and the BRS that has ruled since 2014.

READ | Congress’ Poll Planner Now Chief Advisor To Karnataka Chief Minister

The importance of Mr Kanugolu to the Congress’ election machinery is perhaps best illustrated by the party’s dismal performances in last year’s Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan elections.

READ | Sunil Kanugolu, Data-Driven Strategist Behind Congress’ Karnataka Win

Mr Kanugolu held initial talks with leaders in those states, but neither Kamal Nath nor Ashok Gehlot, the party’s oldest and de facto bosses in each, agreed to his demands.

READ | Congress’ Telangana Strategist Snubbed In Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh

The Congress lost badly in each state. Sources later told NDTV the wins in Karnataka and Telangana were the result of Mr Kanugolu being given a free hand in each.

The math behind the Congress’ Lok Sabha election campaign is much more complicated, particularly with the party juggling multiple allies, and seat-sharing demands, as part of the INDIA opposition bloc.

READ | INDIA Bloc Seat Sharing Talks In Progress For Maharashtra, UP Next

In that context, Mr Kanugolu, hailed as a “man of ideas, with a handle on the big picture”, would have been a valuable asset, particularly since he has experience with INDIA allies, having worked with the DMK for the 2019 general election and winning Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s party 38 of the state’s 39 Lok Sabha seats. He has also worked with the BJP; he was part of its 2014 campaign.

For Congress, No Kanugolu, No Kishor

Mr Kanugolu is the second big poll strategist to step back from the Congress’ national poll plans, after master tactician Prashant Kishor confirmed, in 2022, he would not work with the party.

READ | 5 Reasons Why Prashant Kishor’s Talks With Congress Fell Through

Prashant Kishor, who worked with the BJP’s winning campaigns and then turned around to guide Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to a statement win over his former employers, wanted wholesale reforms within the party, something with which it was not comfortable. 

Congress Has Long-Term Plan?

The Congress, though, is likely thinking (very) long-term. Wins in Karnataka and Telangana (and Himachal Pradesh, another state where Mr Kanugolu aided the party) must be balanced against major losses, such as those in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh this year, and Punjab in 2022. 

The Congress was the ruling party in three of these four states before disjointed campaigns gave the BJP and the AAP (which picked up Punjab) wins they should not have had. The party now has governments (of its own) in just three states compared to the BJP’s 12. It is likely it is banking on Mr Kanugolu, and his field surveys, to win over and strengthen its position in key states as it looks to build a strong base.

Haryana, where the BJP is not in a strong position despite holding the chief minister’s post, and Maharashtra, a state in turmoil since last year’s split in the Shiv Sena, which dumped the Congress out of power (it was part of the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi government), seem good places to start.

Andhra Pradesh, which is also scheduled to vote this year, will likely be passed over by Mr Kanugolu given the Congress doesn’t really have a presence there, despite the recent entrance of YS Sharmila. 

Among the other states heading for Assembly elections in 2024 are Odisha, where Chief Minister Naveen Patna’s BJD has a stranglehold, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh. Jharkhand will also vote but the Congress is already part of the government there, having allied with Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s JMM.

The big test will be Jammu and Kashmir, which, if the Supreme Court’s order is followed, will hold a first election since the controversial scrapping of special status under Article 370. The last Assembly poll in J&K was in 2014.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sewri-Nhava Sheva Atal Setu today. The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link has been built at a cost of ₹ 17,840 crore and is the longest sea bridge in the country.

In December 2016, PM Modi laid the foundation stone of the bridge. Marking the historic milestone in India’s infrastructure development, the name Atal Setu also honours the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The Atal Setu is a 21.8-kilometre-long bridge that connects Sewri in Mumbai and the Nhava Sheva area in Raigad district.

With the help of the country’s longest bridge, the journey between the two locations will be shortened from the current two hours to around 15-20 minutes.

Read| All About The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link – India’s Longest Sea Bridge

Talking about the infrastructural marvel, Metropolitan Commissioner of MMRDA Dr Sanjay Mukherjee said, “On January 12, PM Modi will inaugurate the Atal Setu – the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link. This is India’s longest bridge built on the sea. Several such technologies have been used in the making of this bridge, which are used for the first time in India. The lights used in this bridge do not disturb the aquatic environment.”

Here is What’s allowed and What’s not:

What’s allowed

The maximum speed limit for four-wheelers on the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) will be 100 kmph.

The maximum speed limit for vehicles like cars, taxis, light motor vehicles, minibuses and two-axle buses is 100 kilometres per hour.

On the ascent and descent of the bridge, the speed will be restricted to 40 kilometres per hour.

What’s not allowed

The police, on Wednesday, informed that motorbikes, auto rickshaws and tractors won’t be allowed on the sea bridge, the police said on Wednesday. There will also be no entry for vehicles like motorcycles, mopeds, three-wheelers, animal-drawn vehicles and slow-moving vehicles.

Multi-axle heavy vehicles, trucks and buses heading towards Mumbai won’t have an entry on the Eastern Freeway.

Read| No Bikes, Autos Allowed On India’s Longest Sea Bridge, Speed Limit Is…

These vehicles will have to take the Mumbai Port-Sewri Exit (Exit 1C) and use the MBPT Road near ‘Gadi Adda’ for further movement.

An official informed that the Mumbai police have imposed the speed limit on India’s longest sea bridge to curb “danger, obstructions and inconvenience to the public.”

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister will be visiting Maharashtra to unveil projects worth over ₹ 30,500 crore in the state.

During his visit on Friday, PM Modi will also lay the foundation stone of an underground road tunnel connecting Eastern Freeway’s Orange Gate. The Prime Minister will also launch Namo Mahila Shashaktikaran Abhiyaan in the state

Suchana Seth checked into the apartment in Goa’s Candolim on January 6 and stayed there till January 8. Police suspect that she killed her four-year-old son in the apartment. She then allegedly stuffed the body in a bag and took it to Karnataka in a taxi on Monday, police said.
The child was smothered to death either with a piece of cloth or a pillow, the post-mortem revealed.
She was arrested from Karnataka on Monday night with the help of the cab driver. The driver said that Seth did not utter a single word during the entire trip which lasted more than 10 hours.
Police sources say that she has not been cooperating with the investigation and has shown “no remorse” so far, either over the death of her child, or her role in it.
The 39-year-old was involved in a bitter custody battle with her husband Venkat Raman.
A handwritten note has been recovered from her belongings which she had written about her feud with her husband and the mental exhaustion due to the ongoing court proceedings. Police sources say the note was written on a tissue paper using an eyeliner.
“We would not like to disclose the content of the note but it indicates that she was upset over the custody of her child,” a police official said.
During the investigation, police found that she had on January 6 messaged her estranged husband Venkat Raman. She told him that he could meet the child the next day. But nobody was home in Bengaluru when he came over.
According to the couple’s divorce documents, Suchana Seth had filed a domestic violence case in August 2022 against Raman. She had accused him of physically abusing her and her son, a charge Venkat Raman has denied in court.
The court issued a restraining order against Mr Raman who was barred from his wife’s home or communicating with her or the child. He was later given visitation rights, a development which allegedly upset Suchana Seth.