Top poll strategist and the man behind Congress campaigns in the recent held Karnataka elections Sunil Kanugolu has been appointed as the chief advisor to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with cabinet minister rank.

Congress after coming to the power in Karnataka after marking a landslide victory officially took charge after Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar were sworn in as the CM and Deputy Chief Ministers respectively on May 20.

Amid the finalisation of the new cabinet formation in the state, the CM office has shared the news of Kanugolu’s appointment as the chief advisor.

Kanugolu, known to be a champion strategist for political parties for political parties was born in the Ballari district of Karnataka.

Congress which secured a huge mandate of 135 seats in the Karnataka assembly elections was said to be because of its campaigns that hit success reaching out to the masses.

Reports said, Kanugolu’s micro-management strategies was what Congress relied heavily on, he was the part of the core strategy building team of the party contributing in the making of catchy campaigns for the party to encircle the BJP during elections.

Some of the key campaigns were PayCM, 40 percent commission among others.

Kanugolu is a key member of  the Congress Task Force 2024, who got appointed in May last year, a team created to execute the Nav Sankalp declaration of the grand old party after its brainstorming session held in Udaipur last year.

The Task Force also includes senior leaders of the party Priyanka Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh, KC Venugopal and others.  

Kanugolu was earlier associated with the sharp witted poll strategist Prashant Kishor and was part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2014 Lok Sabha elections campaign.

Kanugolu has earlier also worked for the DMK and AIADMK.

As per reports, the data driven strategist was also behind the planning of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

A video of a Union Minister running is doing rounds on the internet.

In a viral video, Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi can be seen running towards her car avoiding questions by a reporter on the issue of wrestlers protest.

Lekhi was kept chasing by the media person asking her comments on the ongoing wrestlers protest.

First the Minister walked briskly and then started running towards her car with her security personnel around and fled the incident ignoring the question asked by the reporter.

The incident is reportedly moments before the protesting wrestlers gathered in Haridwar where the immersion of their medals was attempted, which was later prevented by farmer leader Naresh Tikait.

Meenakshi Lekhi is a Lok Sabha MP representing the Delhi constituency and is Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture.

The video has gathered various reactions along with criticism from users across the internet. In fact, opposition leaders could not have got a better opportunity to criticise this action by the Minister.

A user wrote that being a lady minister she is avoiding the questions concerned to the country’s female athletes and further slammed the BJP saying they will bring laurels in running from issues.

The Aam Aadmi Party also Tweeted through its official handle tagging Lekhi as shameless.

The Congress also took a jibe at the Minister sharing the video on Twitter.

A user shared a hilarious picture morphing the poster of the film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and changing it to Bhaag Lekhi Bhaag with her face on it.

The ace grapplers of India Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshee Mallikh have been demanding action against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh alleging sexual harassment of female athletes including some minor girls.

Singh on Wednesday challenged the wrestlers that if he is found guilty he will hang himself and asked them to produce evidence before the court.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi while speaking at an event in San Francisco, USA today, taking a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) said the government tried to stop his Bharat Jodo Yatra and threatening people misuing agencies.

The Congress leader is on a 10-day tour to the US, who arrived in  San Francisco on Tuesday morning.

Gandhi said the Central government tried all the possible manners to stop his Bharat Jodo Yatra and targeting the BJP said it is threatening the people and misusing the government agencies, Gandhi said the BJP did not succeed in this and the impact of the Yatra increased.

He said the result behind such an impact of the Yatra was because every Indian has the idea of join India inside their hearts. He added that the Yatra was put into execution as all the instruments that they needed to connect to the masses were controlled by BJP and the RSS.

Gandhi further added saying the march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir had the spirit of affection, respect and humility, he said if one traces back to the history, he/she would learn that spiritual leaders like Guru Nanak Dev, Guru Basavanna ji, Narayana Guru ji united India in a similar manner.

Gandhi is expected to address public rallies, community events and meet with Indians abroad, community leaders, business leaders along with American lawmakers.

The former Congress chief will also interact with students at the Stanford University, San Francisco and will also hold interactions with Wall Street executives.

Gandhi was received by Congress overseas affairs head Sam Pitroda.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also scheduled for a visit to the US in June on a special invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.

PM Modi will be hosted a state dinner by President Biden and his wife on June 22.